Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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It is no secret that the tourism industry is one of our most valuable indigenous sectors. Over the decades, it has reached every corner of Ireland, providing jobs and opening our communities to the world, not just other parts of Ireland. It is no secret, however, that over the last number of years the sector has been struggling and has had challenges. It has faced these challenges remarkably well considering what we have been through - Brexit, Covid and the cost of living. However, these challenges persist. The barometer indicates that things so far in 2025 have been quite flat. The sector, which is eternally optimistic, predicts that things may not be as bad as it thought and we might just finish where we were in 2024.

Initiatives like the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland's Ancient East have provided incredible marketing. On trips abroad to New York and in Italy, I have seen the remarkable work of Fáilte Ireland in promoting Ireland and bringing tourists here. I also have to compliment the agency on the funding it gives local authorities through the regional development initiatives to harness and increase the shoulder season, which is now proving to be a lifeline for many businesses.

Let me go back to where the challenges are. Now more than ever, it is important to bring together the roles of enterprise and tourism. We know there are challenges around VAT and I believe we are going to address them. There are challenges around the cost of living and hopefully we will be able to support the businesses in their endeavours. It is not just about hotel beds or hospitality. It is about the person who offers a service such as kayaking, a visit or a little bit of agri-tourism. It affects thousands of other spin-off industries. There are also gaps in where this tourism is working and where it is not. In County Louth, perhaps because we have in the past attracted business more so than tourism, the local authority might not have seen tourism as a significant sector in which to invest. County Louth really is a hidden beauty in Ireland and is only 35 minutes from Dublin Airport. Too often, we see people getting into their rental cars at Dublin Airport and heading south, west or into the midlands, the Minister's area. We do not see enough of them heading towards the north east. I would like to see that addressed. We have many beautiful areas. Carlingford is starting to show itself not just to Ireland but overseas. We have Ardee, Clogherhead, and importantly the most historic town of Drogheda, with hundreds of years of historical value.

There are areas in Ireland that need specific attention and a specific strategy backed by Government in co-ordination with the local authorities and also private enterprise. I never believe that one person can do things alone. It is always a united front. Can we see specific strategies for those who are not yet up to speed?

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. My role and that of my Department in relation to tourism includes the development of national policy and the securing of resources to assist the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, in the implementation of policy.

County Louth is included in Ireland's Ancient East Regional Tourism Development Strategy 2023-2027. Ireland's ancient east is not only internationally renowned for its rich heritage but also for the variety of tracks and trails by which the region can be explored and discovered. Its diverse landscape provides the visitor with a rich tapestry from which to unlock the living culture unique to the place and underpinned by 5,000 years of heritage and tradition evidenced by its many historical sites.

I had the pleasure of visiting County Louth at the invitation of Deputy Butterly earlier this year. We encountered so many good businesses like Greenore Port, and Sandra Byrne of EliteForm Manufacturing, another very exciting company. We also saw some of the many picturesque areas across the county.

Regional tourism development strategies are being activated across every region through a series of local area action plans, referred to as destination and experience development plans, DEDPs. The "Ancient" destination experience development plan, which was launched in May 2021, is a five-year plan designed to be a roadmap for enhancing the existing visitor proposition to achieve the objectives of addressing seasonality, increasing visitor numbers, and improving dwell time and visitor dispersion in the Boyne Valley and surrounding areas of Louth and Meath. Since the launch of the Ancient DEDP in May 2021, 26 projects have been completed, while a further 41 are in progress across its four strategic pillars. Key achievements to date include the completion of a plan to reimagine the Boyne Valley drive and the development of an outdoor destination orientation development plan for Carlingford and the Cooley Peninsula. Fáilte Ireland is also presently conducting a mid-term review of the Ancient DEDP to ensure it is updated to reflect present day challenges.

In May, I announced the recipients of funding under Fáilte Ireland's new "Home of Halloween" pilot destination development scheme. A total of €1.5 million will be invested over the next three years, from 2025 to 2028, aiming to establish Ireland as an authentic global home of Hallowe'en. Each successful destination, which included a joint proposal by Meath County Council and Louth County Council, will receive up to €100,000 annually to develop Hallowe'en-themed festivals that celebrate Ireland’s heritage and attract visitors during the off-peak season.

The Government remains committed to supporting the tourism and hospitality sector in County Louth and the wider north-east region. Critically, there are a few things we are significantly working on. We are revising our tourism plan, which we will have finished by September. That is going to reflect that tourism is now in the heart of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. We will be focused on SMEs, how we absorb that capacity and a change in direction which will be key, namely that we will have key performance indicators right at the heart of it. This will be an accelerant for key areas like those the Deputy mentioned. We are also looking to expand the season from St. Brigid's Day out to Hallowe'en, which will be very important to attract more visitor numbers into our country.

My intention is to come forward with an all-island food strategy which would be very important to attract visitors. It is a significant advantage for our country. We are also looking at working with our agencies to ensure that we are capturing the massive amount of opportunity in our destination and experience development plans, really putting money right behind where the evidence suggests we can attract more visitors.

A lot of good is going to happen in our tourism sector. I would point out that over the first quarter of the year, which generally comprises a small proportion of tourism in the year, the airport cap was still in place. We had approximately 6% fewer seats. From May to December, we have approximately 11% more seats coming into Ireland - about 1.65 million people - which is very significant. Hopefully that will reflect positively and we will have a good year. The measures the Deputy has outlined in relation to VAT are also very important for the SME sector.

Paula Butterly (Louth, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for those updates. I look forward to welcoming those extra visits to County Louth now that the cap will be lifted. When it comes to County Louth, I will never shy away from broadcasting and promoting the county. Indeed, as people arrive in Dublin Airport and head to the north east, I have a vision of seeing Drogheda as the welcoming mat for County Louth. Without a shadow of a doubt it is the biggest town in Ireland, followed closely by Dundalk. With its coastal beauty, heritage and historical value, it is a place many tourists would love to come and stay in, and not just visit for the day.

I welcome the Minister’s announcement about the all-island food strategy because ten or 15 years ago, County Cork focused on food producers and people flocked there to try a bit of Clonakilty pudding and all the beautiful delights that county could offer. Indeed, many a weekend has been spent flying back from Italy to head to Cork because it was so deliciously delightful. The same can be said about Connemara. We have wonderful food producers there who have brought tourists to the area. Let us not forget that Louth is no less than any of these counties. We have the Boyne Valley and producers not just of food. We also have distilleries that make whiskey, beer and even gin. We will not be found wanting when it comes to offering hospitality to any visitors that arrive in the county.

I refer to places that do not have a hotel such as Ardee. It has had a town plan - Ardee 2040 - which is hobbling along. Tourism will play a huge role in raising Ardee to its rightful status as an important town in County Louth. I ask the Minister one last time for a specific strategy to help those towns reach their potential.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I am happy to work closely with Deputy Butterly on that. Another area I am actively working on is expanding the remit of Fáilte Ireland. One of the first things I did was to take a deep dive of the legislation that underpins the State agency. I want to include a restaurant sector. It is key as regards developing its model. Fáilte Ireland has focused on hotels but if we look further afield, our restaurants are key to our value proposition for tourism and are keen to absorb that capacity. As I come forward with our tourism plan in September, there will be a key focus on: developing our SMEs with Fáilte Ireland taking a greater role in that; looking at how we expand the season from St. Brigid’s Day right out to Hallowe’en as there is a huge amount we can do in that regard; looking at slow tourism; and looking at trying to ensure our destination experience development plans attract the capital investment the State needs for towns like Ardee. I know the Deputy is a great advocate for Drogheda and Dundalk as well in the work she does. I look forward to working with her on those key areas.

The Deputy rightly pointed out that food is a very important niche for Ireland and it can sometimes be alarming when one is abroad, particularly from a European perspective, that people can have a very different idea of what our food is. That is why we need a joined-up approach in regard to our food. It was embarked upon a few years ago but was not followed through. This is something I will work closely on with State agencies.

I acknowledge also Tourism Ireland and the work it does in advocating to ensure we can increase capacity of tourists coming to our country and have better transport through aviation, which will be key to improve the statistics over the later part of the year.

I must reflect upon one thing. The year 2024 was a bumper year for tourism and it will be hard to repeat. Current levels show we are strongly up on 2023 but I am sure we will have a good second half of the year, which is where it counts. The middle part of the year is when the real business is done for tourist operators. We look forward to supporting them as well as supporting County Louth, Drogheda, Dundalk, Ardee and all the towns the Deputy brought me to recently.

Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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We will do our best in Wexford with the fleadh. I am sure the Minister will be there.

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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Wexford will not beat Mullingar.