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

The importance of the tourism sector to the Irish economy and our communities is well understood. Drogheda is a key part of the ancient destination experience development plan, which is the Fáilte Ireland roadmap for the development of tourism in Louth and Meath, including the Boyne Valley and environs. In budget 2024, I secured total funding of €216 million for the tourism sector, which allows for the continued support of tourism development in Ireland for local and overseas visitors. Of this allocation, up to €10 million is available for a specific programme of supports targeted at tourism businesses experiencing particular challenges linked to the reduction in footfall in regions most impacted by tourism bed-stock displacement.

Fáilte Ireland has carried out a number of accommodation audits to establish a baseline for existing tourism accommodation capacity for local authorities in each destination and region. Additional capacity supply growth projections have been identified for all counties based on best estimates of demand recovery to 2030, the current gaps in the market by location and type, and changing consumer preferences for accommodation categories.

The tourism importance of Drogheda is recognised by the significant funding that Fáilte Ireland has allocated to the town under its urban animation scheme in order to further enliven landmark buildings and structures in Drogheda's historic landscape. The collaboration between Fáilte Ireland and Louth County Council on the potential development of an attraction of scale focused on the Boyne is also welcome. In tandem with the work of Fáilte Ireland, my Department is progressing the development of a new national tourism policy framework that will seek to mainstream environmental, economic and societal sustainability across the entire tourism sector. The new framework will shape how our tourism industry develops in the period to 2030. Issues around tourism accommodation stock will be considered as part of the new policy framework and subsequent action plan.

The range of challenges experienced by Drogheda due to displacement of tourism accommodation serve as an exemplar of similar challenges across the country that must be addressed. It is clear that a collective and concerted multi-stakeholder approach to tackling these challenges is required, and that is the approach that Government will continue to pursue for Drogheda and the rest of the country.

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