Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. I thank the House for giving me the opportunity to speak on this important issue, particularly in regard to Ireland's response following the British decision to leave the European Union. In terms of overseas visitor numbers, Great Britain has consistently been Ireland’s most important overseas market. In 2015, which was a record year, over 3.5 million visits were made from Great Britain to Ireland, representing 41% of overseas visit numbers and accounting for 23%, or almost a quarter, of total tourism revenue.

As the House will know, Tourism Ireland, an all-island body set up as a result of the Good Friday Agreement, is the agency responsible for the inward marketing of Ireland. As recently as last week, I had a discussion with Tourism Ireland to better understand where that agency is positioned in terms of dealing with the fallout from Britain's decision to leave the Union. It is too early to form a judgement on the overall impact of the UK referendum result but there will be some short-term implications. These are likely to be centred on the possibility that consumers in the UK will be more cautious with their discretionary spending due to the volatility with sterling, which may impact outbound tourism generally from Great Britain. A second short-term issue is the impact on the prevailing exchange rates between the British pound and the euro. In terms of the outbound Great Britain market, it should be noted that the relative reduction in the value of sterling will have similar implications for all eurozone countries.

In regard to this last point, the very strong tourism performance of the last two years - last year was a record year - has fed through into increased prices for visitor accommodation, particularly in Dublin and in other key tourism destinations. I met with Fáilte Ireland last week in regard to the constraints that are becoming increasingly apparent in the Dublin accommodation market. Up to now, British visitors were somewhat insulated from the full impact of these increases due to the strong value of sterling. With the recent currency adjustments, the full extent of the price movements will now be more apparent for British visitors. Therefore, an opportunity exists for tourism accommodation providers to match prevailing prices to the new market environment and ensure that Ireland’s competitive position is maintained. If I could get one message out from the Seanad today, it is a very clear and succinct message to Dublin hoteliers and the Dublin industry in particular that this is something the Government is very concerned about.

In the short term, there are no changes to how people can travel between Ireland and the UK, and the Government will be doing its utmost in future discussions to maintain the common travel area, which has existed since 1922. With regard to the longer term, the programme for Government commits to implementing the policy referred to by Senator Coghlan up to 2025 and achieving the targets for Irish tourism within it. Even prior to the referendum result there was a commitment in the tourism policy to prioritising tourism marketing efforts towards those markets providing higher revenue returns. However, the British market will remain of significant importance to Irish tourism product in the future and I believe that Ireland’s excellent tourism offering will ensure that we continue to perform strongly in that market.

As I said, Tourism Ireland is closely monitoring the situation and is due to meet tourism industry representatives later this week. I will keep in close contact with Tourism Ireland and will continue to meet its representatives to keep abreast of proceedings. In the longer term, we will work closely with other Departments, particularly the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the economic Departments within Government. I am anxious to take on board the views of the Members of the Oireachtas. I know Senators have a very strong tradition of using the Seanad effectively to sound out issues of importance to the State, in particular longer-term projects. I encourage the Cathaoirleach and Senator Coghlan to consider the possibility, when the Seanad reconvenes in September, of a longer-term discussion in regard to the challenges facing Irish tourism, particularly in the context of the UK referendum.