Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will enjoy that at the weekend.

A tourism recovery task force was established in May 2020 and delivered a tourism recovery plan with recommendations on how best the Irish tourism sector could adapt and recover in the changed tourism environment. Later that year, I appointed a recovery oversight group to oversee the implementation of this plan. This group has reported regularly to me and has provided valuable inputs to the Government on the measures required to assist the sector. The recovery oversight group is continuing its work and will report to me with updates on implementation of the tourism recovery plan and recovery in the sector more generally.

Looking to the longer term, my Department has initiated the development of a sustainable tourism policy. The development of this new policy will involve consultation with the tourism industry and with communities to help set out a path for the coming years which will support sustainable recovery and growth in the sector. In budget 2022, €288.5 million was allocated for tourism services. This allows for significant increases in domestic and overseas marketing in building a strong digital presence for the sector and in developing new and enhanced visitor experiences that will drive sustainable and dispersed visitor growth. I have referred the Deputy's question to Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland for further details of their specific plans to help the tourism sector to recover in 2022 and beyond.

A significant challenge facing the sector at present is the recruitment and retention of staff. My Department and Fáilte Ireland have been collaborating with industry and other Departments to ensure there is a co-ordinated approach to addressing the labour and skills shortages. A key task in this regard is to drive the long-term repositioning of the sector as an appealing and rewarding career choice and workplace. As we enter the peak summer months and the tourism industry recovers, there are inevitably additional pressures on hotel capacity and pricing. The initial recovery phase has resulted in issues for all tourism businesses, many of which are repeated in other markets around the world.

Hotel supply in Dublin has been affected by a range of factors. Some of them are short-term, such as deferred business from the last two years and increased demand. Businesses are also facing significant cost pressures due to inflation and other economic factors, all of which have contributed to higher prices than in 2019. International supply chains are impacting on the car rental fleet. While this is not in the control of the Government and there are no short-term solutions, my Department is examining possible taxation options which might assist, with the recognition that taxation measures are a matter for the Minister for Finance.

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