Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Martin. The Deputy has raised the issue of support measures for businesses and individuals dependent on seasonal tourism that may be adversely affected by the reduction in capacity this season due to hotels and other tourism accommodation being used to house international asylum seekers and Ukrainian people fleeing war. I am familiar with every part of the Deputy's constituency and know full well the impact of tourism. He made a strong case regarding the impact that the lack of tourist accommodation will have on such an important sector of the economy of his constituency, particularly in the coastal areas.

We are approaching the first anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. Since then, Ireland has welcomed 90,000 people between those fleeing Ukraine and other international protection applicants. Of these, more than 70,000 have required State-provided accommodation. This is the largest humanitarian operation ever undertaken by the State and the people, and tourism accommodation has played a significant role in response to this crisis. Tourism is one of the most important indigenous sectors and the use of tourism accommodation to meet humanitarian needs, while necessary in the short term, has led to concerns for everyone involved in tourism. The availability of tourism accommodation has knock-on impacts for other tourism businesses and businesses in the wider local economy. Officials in my Department are engaging with a range of Departments, with input from Fáilte Ireland, to ascertain how best to mitigate the potential impacts on the wider tourism ecosystem of long-term use of tourism accommodation. Analysis is being done on those towns or areas most impacted by the unavailability of tourism accommodation. The Deputy made a strong case on behalf of Sligo, Rosses Point and Bundoran in particular, but also other areas of his constituency.

The strong early recovery of inbound tourism to Ireland last year was welcome but it is fair to say that the tourism industry faces a number of challenges. The industry was disproportionately affected by Covid-19. Hotel capacity, energy costs and labour shortages will continue to challenge the industry this year but, despite the challenges, it has stepped up in a substantial way. In budget 2023, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media secured €15 million in additional funding for overseas marketing of Ireland. As global competition heightens, sustaining extensive marketing campaigns will be vital to support the ongoing recovery effort, building on the initial inbound tourism demand seen in 2022. The budget also contains an additional €15 million for a range of industry initiatives, including €3 million for a continuation of the investment in skills development and retention and €2 million for domestic marketing. The Minister also secured additional funding of €3 million to allow Fáilte Ireland to continue its work in the area of sustainability. Tourism agencies are working hard to help those in the tourism sector. Tourism Ireland will roll out an extensive and targeted programme of activity in 2023, with a total marketing budget of €78 million. A wide range of promotional activities will be undertaken as well, working with the tourism industry at home and the travel trade overseas to facilitate sales. In addition, Fáilte Ireland will announced its plans for 2023 next week, which will include work in the areas of recruitment and retention of staff and sustainability.

The Deputy will be aware of the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS, which is designed to support businesses with their energy costs over the winter months. The Ministerhas received extensive feedback on this scheme from the tourism sector, both in written form and at a recent meeting of the hospitality and tourism forum, which she co-chairs with the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney. This feedback has been shared with the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael McGrath. Deputy Martin is also aware that the retention of the 9% VAT rate is to the forefront for tourism businesses and individuals right now. The industry views on this were clearly expressed at the recent hospitality and tourism forum meeting.

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