Carol Nolan (Laois-Offaly, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As the Minister will be aware, the Irish Hotels Federation has pointed out that Ireland has the third-highest VAT rate in the EU. I know the Minister said she does not have direct responsibility for VAT but with her responsibility for tourism, it is important that the view of the sector is articulated and that the sector is supported. More than 285,000 jobs are directly related to tourism in 46,000 tourism businesses. This is a profoundly serious issue as it is a huge sector. In my constituency, in County Offaly in particular, I can see that it is having a profound effect already and businesses need more support. My colleague, Independent local election candidate, Jonathan O'Meara, who owns and operates an outdoor adventure company, Mid Ireland Adventure, as well as Slieve Bloom Mountain Bike Centre, based in Banagher, has also said, as the Minister noted, that the lack of budget hotel accommodation in Offaly is having a knock-on effect. This needs to be resolved. We know there are Government contracts and these mean that tourism is not happening the way it should. People are not coming into the county; they are leaving it and crisscrossing between Dublin and Galway but they are not spending time in Offaly and I am sure the case is the same around the country. This needs to be addressed.

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