Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the chance to speak to this Bill. It is a short technical Bill that will provide the statutory basis to allow the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to increase the aggregate level of funding that will be made to Fáilte Ireland. The ceiling currently is €300 million and the Bill will see it increase to €500 million. Sinn Féin will support the Bill.

Fáilte Ireland is, of course, a very important organisation and is integral to our tourism industry. Tourism is Ireland's biggest indigenous industry. Hundreds of thousands of people are employed in tourism and it is especially important in parts of the country that have long been disadvantaged, such as along the west coast. Fáilte Ireland has played a central role in the development of tourism in Ireland and its work is to be commended.

It would not be possible, however, to speak about tourism without referencing the pandemic and the resultant restrictions. The years 2020, 2021 and early 2022 were among the most difficult years for the industry. As we know, the industry was the first to close and the last to open and despite Government funding for wages and overheads, it was a very difficult time for the industry. We emerged from that crisis and straight into the cost-of-living and energy crises.

Some parts of the sector, especially restaurants, are facing into a very difficult winter indeed. Some will have warehouse debt to deal with, difficulties with recruitment, as many workers left the sector during Covid, and sky-high energy bills. It is important to recognise that this is a very wide-ranging industry and different sections will have different experiences.

We all know that hotels, especially those in our cities, engaged in significant price gouging during the summer months of this year. This has tarnished the entire industry, unfortunately, and it should be said that despite what various Ministers have said in the past about the VAT rate for the industry, it is possible under European law to apply different rates of tax on different sections of the tourism and hospitality sector. We could have a situation where hotels have one rate of tax and other tourist attractions or restaurants have another. We need to consider this seriously and I ask the Minister to look into it, given the ongoing price gouging and the damage that it has done not just to domestic tourism but to international tourism. The reputation is out there now that if you come to Ireland and book a hotel you will come across rip-off rates and unexplainable and inexcusable costs.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is pay and conditions for workers in the industry. I sit on the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media and we have written a report on this matter which is due to be published soon. We held hearings which exposed some absolutely outrageous behaviour by certain parts of the sector; hospitality workers being treated terribly, abused, overworked and poorly paid. It is appalling and needs to be addressed. There was lots of talk last year about the staffing crisis in the sector. It should come as no mystery or surprise that retention is such a struggle in the industry when one sees how poor conditions are in some places.

The Minister needs to get involved. Any time I have tried to raise this with her, my questions are sent to the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment. I understand that he has a role in workers rights but it is not fair that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media can wash her hands of this issue in its entirety. It is simply not fair that she will represent big industry lobby groups but not workers. She needs to go out to bat for them too and I hope that she will consider taking responsibility for this in her own Department and will consider the report that the Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media has compiled. Some very serious issues were raised in that report and unless action is taken, the situation will remain the same and the industry will suffer from constant staff recruitment and retention problems. From a workers' rights perspective, I do not think I have come across an industry quite as bad, in places, as that reported by people before the committee.

I will also raise some tourism issues that are important in my own constituency of Louth and east Meath. From the latest figures I could find, Louth is one of the least-visited counties by domestic tourists in the State, ranking 22nd of 26 counties. It was also ranked 16th of 26 counties for overseas visitors. With the Gaelic, Norman and Viking history of the county, Louth should be ranked much higher and would be if it were properly promoted. Drogheda is currently designated a Fáilte Ireland destination town. However, there is no tourism officer or even a heritage officer for the Drogheda and south Louth area. Putting this measure in place would put additional focus on Drogheda and would be very beneficial to the town.

We have many day trippers visiting Drogheda. I wish to see Fáilte Ireland putting together a package for Drogheda and its environs such as Monasterboice and Newgrange. This would make it easier for tourists to come to visit Louth and stay in the area. We need more than day trips to sustain tourism in the area. The proposed Boyne-side trail has not started on the Mornington-Drogheda side while the excellent Carlingford greenway has received significant funding and is one of the premier greenways in the State. The 17 km cycle way from the Maiden Tower at Mornington to Brú na Bóinne would be the only trail with a UNESCO site at the end of it - if and when it is completed. The negative perception of Drogheda caused by the feud has not been addressed yet and an increased focus by Fáilte Ireland to highlight the positive elements, history and heritage of the town would go a long way to addressing this.

With this Bill and the additional funding to be able to stretch to €500 million, it is time for Fáilte Ireland, as I have raised with it, to focus on areas throughout the country that are less established or less well known to tourists.

Let us consider the Wild Atlantic Way and the fantastic success that has been. However, there are other regions that have not been established as tourism destinations. This is primarily because there has not been proper focus or promotion of them. These areas should be the ones to have the focus of Fáilte Ireland. There should be time invested and they should be promoted. The focus should be on them because they have just as much to offer to tourists both international and domestic.

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