Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I second Senator David Norris's amendment to the Order of Business.

Tourism is still one of the most vibrant and progressive industries in Ireland, having served us well down through the years. In the past, its economic benefits were spread right throughout the country so that many small villages that did not have a hotel benefited. In recent years, there has been a tendency for tourism to be concentrated in areas of population. One sector that appears to be suffering too much is the bed and breakfast sector. In the past, this sector was very important where five or six were located in small communities. If four or five people stayed in each bed and breakfast, it meant that those people were spending money in the local economy. One of the main reasons bed and breakfasts are suffering so much is that there is too much bureaucracy attached to them. I would like to have the statistics but I believe that about 50% have gone out of business altogether. The overheads are exceptional and it is almost impossible to provide a service at a competitive rate because of the NAMA hotel rates with which they cannot compete.

The difficulty is that as tourism expands, the bed and breakfast sector will be required and only a small proportion of them will be available. We still have discerning tourists coming to Ireland who do not want a hotel experience; they want a local community experience, and an experience of staying in an Irish home. That has been a huge selling point of our hospitality image down through the years. We have let it slip off the radar because, during the Celtic tiger, the tendency was to build large hotels in areas of population. The NAMA hotel rates are a further blow to the bed and breakfast sector.

I would like the Minister to come to the House for a debate on tourism in general and not to take for granted that it will continue to be stable and vibrant, and continue to grow. That would be a mistake because we are also facing competition from other countries. Tourism has not been getting the attention it should have been receiving for 20 or 30 years when it would have been centre stage because we regarded tourism as something we were good at. We had so many attractions, natural and otherwise, that tourism was a solid industry. We are taking our eye off the ball. The concept of all tourism going to built up areas, the areas of population, is not a good trend when it is done at the expense of other parts of the country.