Rose Conway Walsh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the extra time to finish discussing the recommendation. I am aware of the problems of rural as opposed to Dublin-based hotels, which are heavily over-subscribed. However, many other cities have a local hotel tax which is something I urge the Minister of State to look at. It is a possible way to distinguish between cities and rural Ireland. I accept the point around tax bands, but this is something we could consider. There is a particular tax for London hotels. I cannot reconcile the fact that I pay huge rates when I stay in hotels in Dublin where we have children in uniforms going down to eat their breakfast, having been piled into hotel rooms. I cannot accept that we have this tax break for hotels in Dublin. There must be a way around it. The contrast between those children in their uniforms and the huge rates hotels charge cannot be right on any level. I record also my concern about labour standards in this sector. We are subsidising some very bad employers, which is certainly something that needs to be addressed as well.