Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That said, I understand the need for hotels to set prices in a way that allows them to invest in, say, improving facilities, as pointed out by Senator Craughwell. This investment will not come from the taxpayer but from the owners. I accept the need for them to set prices in such a way as to make that sustainable. The sustainability goes both ways. There has to be pricing that is sustainable to deliver investment, but it must also be sustainable to deliver a competitive offering to tourists. The moment I see evidence that this is stopping, my support for delivering the 9% VAT rate will be revisited.

I agree with Senator O’Keeffe on the need to layer the Wild Atlantic Way and examine how it can be developed. Senator Ó Murchú touched on the role of cultural tourism and the success of a recent fleadh in Sligo, which I was privileged to attend. It would be ungracious of me were I not to acknowledge the Senator’s role in it. I take a different view from his on how we offer a welcome and who is able to do that. He warned about going after the floating tourist market. I have been impressed by the work done by Fáilte Ireland on market segmentation, analysing the various potential tourists who could come to Ireland and establishing plans to go after them. This has underpinned the recent success in the tourism industry.

Senator Noone touched on all of the different measures implemented by the Government. Senator Reilly referred to the accolade recently awarded to Cavan town in the World Responsible Tourism Awards. Senator Moloney acknowledged the recent announcement on public service obligations, PSOs, for airport routes between Donegal, Kerry and Dublin. I took the decision to support the PSOs because of the contribution that aviation connectivity makes to our ability to deliver a very strong tourism offering. I am confident that the airports and those involved in delivering those routes will rise to the challenge.