Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I believe I have drawn a short straw in addressing this section with a Senator from Killarney in the Chair. Section 22 provides for tax relief for the managing of a property used as a hotel, guesthouse, self-catering accommodation or comparable establishment. Is this not part of the problem from the past where we gave fiscal privilege for the construction of hotels? It did not do much for tourism which declined dramatically after 2007. Why start this again? Is there a cost-benefit analysis of the relief? Will it undermine existing businesses which have struggled through?

I was surprised to see such a relief in the Bill as hotels and other such establishments have low occupancy rates which are only just starting to recover. When they do, the hoteliers will make more money and presumably will not be looking for tax breaks and subsidies from the Department of Finance. Why embark on another round of these breaks, particularly when the Irish Hotels Federation pointed out the last such breaks damaged the industry and the taxpayer? One also sees the inflated prices being charged for hotels in the Dublin area. Is the market solving the problem? One hotel in Kerry which cost ¤25 million was recently sold for ¤5 million while another hotel there went from ¤40 million to ¤10 million down to ¤4 million. As the market will solve these problems, should a hard-pressed and overburdened taxpayer be invoked again?

This is another reason cost-benefit analyses and regulatory impact assessments should accompany the Finance Bill. I am certainly willing to be persuaded about the benefits of this tax break. If there had been more accompanying documentation, I would have been delighted to read it and respond to it. On issues of property, land prices and the hotel sector, we are reheating policies which have done serious damage to this economy in the past, damage which the Minister spends most of the hours of the day trying to correct. Why are we embarking on another round of these breaks?