Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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63. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment how he plans to support and compensate business owners in towns such as Killarney, County Kerry, where the displacement of tourism accommodation for use as emergency accommodation has resulted in significant reductions in footfall and consumer spending; the supports he is planning for the broader SME sector and businesses exposed to vastly increased overheads; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17023/24]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I congratulate the Minister, Deputy Burke, and Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, on their recent appointments. I wish them the very best during their tenure. The Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, has been there all along and I wish him continued success as well.

This question is a very serious one related to the reduced footfall in towns such as Killarney resulting from displacement for emergency accommodation purposes. What can be done to compensate and support businesses in those scenarios and, similarly, in other towns throughout the country?

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Griffin for his kind words and also for his advocacy on behalf of the tourism sector, both as a Teachta Dála and in a previous ministerial role.

The importance of the tourism sector to the economy and to communities in every corner of Ireland is well understood. It is recognised that the use of tourist accommodation to support the Government’s response to the humanitarian crisis has impacted on the sector. Fáilte Ireland identified that, in November 2023, 12% of all registered tourism accommodation stock nationally was under contract to the State. An additional amount of tourism-type accommodation that is not registered with Fáilte Ireland is also contracted to the State. My colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, has made up to €10 million available for a 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. This programme of supports includes investment in sustainable tourism development and promotion, industry digitalisation, promotion of domestic tourism and festivals, and recruitment and retention initiatives.

I am acutely aware that many businesses in all sectors are facing difficulties due to the cost of doing business. With this in mind, as part of the budget 2024 package and in order to help businesses with their increasing overheads, the Government announced the introduction of the increased cost of business, ICOB, grant, which is intended to aid firms with the challenge posed by increased costs. The ICOB scheme is up and running and will benefit up to 121,000 small businesses. Local authorities throughout the country are now rolling out the scheme with the Department and have all written to ratepayers setting out the information on the scheme.

On 5 March 2024, my Department and the Department of Social Protection produced an assessment of the combined cost of measures to improve working conditions in Ireland. Reflecting the findings of this assessment, a range of measures is being brought forward to assist businesses in adjusting to these increased costs. These measures include the preparation of a paper on PRSI; making available up to €15 million to local enterprise offices, LEOs, to enable a top-up payment on the energy grant; reducing red tape; and accelerating the roll-out of fully-functioning national enterprise hubs.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the Minister's response and the many measures being taken to address the difficulties facing many businesses throughout the country. All of those measures are very welcome. It all helps. I am speaking as a representative of the people of County Kerry where tourism accounts for a significant portion of overall economic activity. Fáilte Ireland's figure of 12%, for example, would be higher in Kerry. We have taken a huge number of refugees and people seeking international protection. This is coming off the back of three extremely challenging years, in 2020, 2021 and into 2022, as a result of Covid-19. We have had an extremely challenging time for our economic base.

One estimate last June showed that Killarney, for example, had lost €100 million as a result of displacement of accommodation beds. That was only up to last June. This is the scale of the problem. Government schemes need to be in that type of league in order to address this problem. That is only for one town. Other towns such as Dingle, Kenmare and Tralee are also suffering. This is the scale involved and the context in which I raise this matter. While I welcome all of the measures, we have found ourselves in an extraordinary situation since March 2022 in particular and there has to be the extraordinary response from the Government to assist these businesses.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Griffin for his response and for setting out clearly the pressures the sector is under in his constituency and right across the south and west coasts. I fully understand the pressures and the acute nature of the problem. I am due to meet with the hospitality and tourist forum in May with the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin. Obviously, the forum will discuss this issue. We will also frame a significant package for businesses in the days and weeks ahead that will try to assist them with the pressures the Deputy mentioned.

I know the issue of bed accommodation is acute in County Kerry. Looking at the statistics for Ukrainian citizens, approximately 45 a week are now exiting bed accommodation, with about 15 coming in. Nonetheless, we have other pressures such as international protection, on which we have to live up to our obligations as a State, and the pressure is acute in that regard.

We will work with the sector. Our economic brand is so important for tourism and it plays a big role for economic activity in regions such as the Deputy's.

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister. I welcome and encourage that engagement with industry and the representative bodies in particular. The Minister is very welcome to come to Kerry at any stage and engage with the operators on the ground. He has been very good in the past in coming to the county and meeting people. They have always been very impressed with him and he has always responded, which is really important and appreciated. It would also be welcome if he could do that throughout the business sector because it is from the ground up that we can really get what is going on at the coalface.

We are where we are with the challenges we have faced over recent years, but there is scope within the overall budgetary parameters to assist the businesses that have fed the economic growth the country has experienced over the past ten-plus years. We need to protect those businesses and, as the economic cycle progresses and perhaps there will be further challenges or downturns, these are the businesses we will need to get us through the difficult times to keep our services funded and the country on the road. We need to support them now, therefore, at this difficult time. Support at the beginning of this Thirty-third Dáil was more than anything I could have expected in the context of the Covid response, and that now needs to be replicated.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy and am happy to take him up on his kind invitation. It is so important we work closely with the sector he referred to. We had initiatives in the past such as The Gathering, and when our economy was on the floor, we saw how much that sector played a part in enhancing economic activity and getting employment back. It is at the forefront of our minds. As I said, it is important the increased cost of business grant be drawn down because as we are getting to a stage when we are looking for more money in the Department, we need that to be drawn down. If it is not, the Deputy knows what arguments will be put up by the Departments of public expenditure and reform and finance when we are looking for more money as part of this package. I appeal to business owners, therefore, to demonstrate the commitment in drawing down that grant. There is a one-page form, it is very easy to fill out and there is a payment of up to €5,000 to assist the business. We will work with and listen, which is important, to the sector in the days and weeks ahead.