Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As I said earlier, it is a great country. Ireland is known as a great sporting country. We do very well with the GAA, soccer and rugby. It is also great to see that our soccer teams and our rugby teams are looking to bring world cup, European cup and UEFA cup competitions to Ireland, which is fantastic. There are also plenty of concerts in the Aviva Stadium and Croke Park, with all of the superstars coming in. Ireland has always been known for having fantastic restaurants, especially with our fish, and so on. However, people do talk. The problem we have at the moment is that people are not talking about the great sport, concerts or food. They are talking about the prices. I am really alarmed at the moment that Tourism Ireland is getting €80 million. Where is the €80 million going? There is something seriously wrong. I used to go abroad but over the past number of years I have holidayed in Ireland when the value for money was good. The situation now, however, is putting people back on aeroplanes. We have seen it getting totally out of control. It is up to the Minister to call them in and see what the problem is.

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