Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

I wish to raise a matter with the Leader that was raised in the House last week, which he may discuss with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. I refer to the disgraceful overcharging that took place in this city for hotel bedrooms last weekend. As we are aware, the Take That concert was on in Dublin at which 80,000 were in attendance. Practically every hotel bedroom in the city was booked. I spoke to constituents who had families in Dublin trying to get on cancellation lists. Telephone calls were received from many prominent hotels in the city to say there was a cancellation but the room which would normally cost between €80 and €120 on a Saturday night would be a minimum of €250 and up to €400 in some cases. That type of behaviour is appalling in a country that is trying to get back on its feet, promote itself internationally and get 450,000 people who are unemployed back to work.