Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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9. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht what measures are being taken to address the shortfall in tourist accommodation; what effect is being seen by the tourism industry on its revenues due to lack of accommodation for tourists; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23654/23]

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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26. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she is considering a special recognition payment for tourist ancillary services, such as activity centres and tour operators, due to the estimated €1.1 billion loss in revenue in the sector due to Government over-reliance on tourist accommodation to house those seeking international protection; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23342/23]

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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41. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht what immediate provisions her Department is taking to support tourism businesses which will be gravely impacted by the lack of available tourism beds for the 2023 season; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23707/23]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The 2023 tourism season is well under way at this stage. There are beds that are not available for tourism due to State contracts. The absence of those tourists has a direct knock-on effect on so many other support businesses, such as restaurants and bike hire companies, which are a central part of the tourism offering. Does the Minister have a plan for supporting them in the absence of that income?

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 26 and 41 together.

The arrival of refugees from the war in Ukraine, combined with the high number of international protection applicants, has resulted in the largest humanitarian effort in the State's history. The national response to this challenge is underpinned by an all-of-government approach. As I said earlier, in February last year, we were accommodating 8,300 people. We are now accommodating 83,520 people, which is equivalent to the population of Galway city. As the Deputy knows, serviced accommodation within the tourism sector, hotels primarily, have been to the fore in meeting this immediate need.

Demand for Irish tourism, both from abroad and at home, is really strong. The sector, supported by the Government, has shown great resilience in rebuilding after Covid-19. However, I am concerned about the potential downstream impacts on strategic tourism businesses due to the removal of one third of registered tourism accommodation from the tourism market. I have expressed this concern, Obviously, there are concerns with regard to visitor attractions, activity providers, hospitality and retail. They all rely to a greater or lesser extent on visitors having a place to stay, as the Deputy knows. As I said earlier and as other Deputies have said in this Chamber, every €1 spent on tourism accommodation equates to €2.50 that will be spent in the local economy on visitor attractions, tourism support services, hospitality and retail. I have consistently raised my concerns with Government colleagues on this matter. While anecdotal evidence is emerging of the impacts on downstream tourism businesses, I have asked my officials and Fáilte Ireland to do further work on this issue as we approach and near peak season. That work will focus on emerging trends and the areas that are most affected by the loss of tourism accommodation. It will examine possible mitigation measures that could be considered if the scale of the impact is sufficient to warrant this.

We have invested heavily in this sector, which is a key employer of scale in large parts of the country. Many communities across the country are heavily reliant on it. We have continued to invest to ensure there is a strong pool of tourism attractions, activity providers and related tourism businesses. While it is to be hoped that these mitigation measures will not be needed, it is only prudent that we do the examination now and be ready to move if measures are required. We invested heavily in putting supports in place during Covid-19. We did not do that to lead to them to fail now. I am cognisant of keeping the supports in place. It is only prudent to assess this. Any mitigation will need to have hard data behind it. As I have said, we developed strong experience during the pandemic of the types of targeted measures.

We are not starting from zero. We saw what worked for these key strategic tourism businesses during the pandemic to help them trade and survive. Business continuity supports similar to those that we funded and Fáilte Ireland rolled out may have to be considered if it is clear that a loss of tourism footfall in specific areas is leading to significant reductions in trade and turnover. We might have to consider other innovative measures that can assist the worst affected tourism businesses and allow them to survive during the current challenges. I did, of course, secure continued additional funding for tourism in budget 2023, totalling €30 million, of which €15 million is for the overseas marketing of Ireland. As global competition heightens, sustained and extensive marketing campaigns will be vital to support the ongoing recovery effort. Ensuring the resilience and growth of this demand is vital to the industry, to jobs and, indeed, to communities across the length and breadth of this country. The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Coveney, and I co-chair the hospitality and tourism forum. We will engage through that forum, a meeting of which we hope to have in the coming weeks.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for the overview and for her detailed response. Phenomenal pressure is growing on many smaller businesses. The 2023 season is now well under way and in the absence of those beds and the tourists that would occupy them, and their subsequent spend, there is increasing pressure on smaller businesses. Those businesses are scattered right across the many rural areas of the country. For many, this is their main opportunity for income. Many of those smaller businesses give our younger people their first jobs in cafés, pubs, pet farms and wherever else. Those businesses are vital to those rural economies. I understand that Fáilte Ireland is conducting that research on behalf of the Minister. Will she give an outline as to when that will be completed? This was not an unknown. She must have been expecting that this pressure would come on and Fáilte Ireland would conduct research for some time. When will there be an outcome from that research? When will there be a plan in place to support these businesses?

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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My question is whether the Minister has considered or proposed a special recognition payment for tourism ancillary services, such as activity centres, tour operators and all of the businesses that will be directly affected because of the lack of accommodation.

I have not heard what is being done to encourage domestic tourism for the visitor attractions the length and breadth of the country. The fear is that when word gets out that one third of the accommodation is not available, people will automatically consider travelling abroad. Has the Minister considered a recognition payment for businesses? Some 10,000 jobs across the country could be displaced because of the lack of tourism accommodation. There is a very real prospect of that. We could be looking at a revenue loss of €1.1 billion. There are knock-ons elsewhere for every €1 that is spent on accommodation and the loss of that income is massive.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Budget 2023 provided a €2 million increase in funding for domestic marketing to promote Ireland's tourism offering to Irish holidaymakers. As Deputy Munster will be aware, the domestic market is a critical part of the tourism economy. While, of course, I am examining mitigation measures, I am also looking to see how the domestic tourism market could help to sustain these tourism businesses. A marketing campaign will be a part of the measures we put in place. Additional domestic marketing funding secured for this year will allow Fáilte Ireland to continue to build momentum on the mass-reach media marketing campaign Keep Discovering. It is about promoting the joy of discovering the endless opportunities for domestic tourism and reminding those of us who live here that a short break with friends and family is a great option.

In respect of mitigation measures, I have consistently raised this matter. I have not only done so recently. It has been on my radar. There has been constant engagement with senior officials in the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. We need hard data to look at these possible mitigation reports. As the summer season cranks up, rather than having anecdotal stories, we must have hard evidence so that when I come back to my colleagues, I can outline exactly what is needed.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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Tá an séasúr turasóireachta faoi lán seoil agus tá brú ollmhór ar an-chuid gnóthaí toisc nach bhfuil lóistín agus na turasóirí a bheadh ann ar fáil. Táim ag caint faoi ghnóthaí a bhaineann le busanna, zip lines agus gníomhartha uisce, pet farms agus go leor eile. Tuigim go bhfuil Fáilte Éireann ag féachaint ar phlean chun tacaíocht a thabhairt ansin. An bhfuil béim ar thacaíocht do na comhlachtaí sin nó an bhfuiltear fós ag féachaint ar shlí chun lóistín a scaoileadh?

Is there an emphasis on a support package or is it on freeing up further accommodation, even at this late stage? Is there an indication of a timeline for when that Fáilte Ireland report is due?

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I know the Minister has said she is in discussions but the summer is on top of us. Has she proposed a special recognition payment for those ancillary services within the tourism sector which, if those predictions come true, will be at a serious loss of revenue and jobs could be lost. That is the case for activity centres, adventure centres, tour operators and festivals. If people have nowhere to stay, they will stay away. Let us not wait until the eleventh hour to put measures in place. We are talking about a loss of €1.1 billion in tourist spending. That will have a massive knock-on effect on jobs at those tourist locations and those losses may be very difficult to recover in future years. Has the Minister proposed such a recognition payment or some sort of assistance? What proposals have come from her?

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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No proposals have come from me. I have the concerns and believe there is real potential that mitigation measures will be needed. That needs to be backed by hard data, which is why I have asked Fáilte Ireland to conduct research. I have said business continuity supports, similar to those rolled out by Fáilte Ireland during the pandemic, may be required but we need to look at all possibilities. The Deputy mentioned a special recognition payment. We have to consider all innovative measures to provide support.

On Deputy Moynihan's point, níl sé soiléir go fóill cén saghas tacaíochta a bheidh ar fáil. Caithfimid gach saghas tacaíochta a scrúdú. I have asked Fáilte Ireland to undertake this research and hope to have the conclusions before the end of this Dáil term, at which point I will report back to my Government colleagues.