Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I join in the welcome to my friend and colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Griffin. We are delighted to have him in the House. He has been very successful in his Ministry to date and I have no doubt he has the capacity to go on being successful there and in a range of Ministries for many years. It is good to have him here today to discuss this very important sector.

The figures are very positive on a number of fronts in regard to tourism and I want to note the importance of tourism by way of introduction. There were 2 million visitors in the first quarter of the year, a 6.9% increase on the equivalent period the previous year, and there are two significant details regarding that figure, namely, the number of North American visitors is up 13% and the number of visitors from mainland Europe is up 13.8%. In 2017, there were 9.9 million visits in total. Overall, there are 235,000 jobs in the sector which has revenue of €2 billion a year. It is a vital and growing sector and one that needs nourishment and minding.

I want to mention one or two facets of the sector in the short time I have available. First, value for money is crucial. The VAT reduction to 9% was a very successful initiative in the tourism sector has had huge job implications and has been one of the greatest initiatives for the economy in recent times. However, it is being abused. The prices in hotels in Dublin certainly are astronomical and we have to watch this kind of pricing. I suggest to the Minister of State that he would keep strong vigilance in this area and, insofar as he can, achieve regulation and control, even using the threat of removing or changing the VAT rate if necessary to bring order to that area. If we price ourselves out of tourism, it would be a great tragedy.

Another issue that merits monitoring is the entire Brexit arena. The obvious objectives are, of course, to have no hard border and to try to deal with sterling fluctuations. In that regard, it is important that we support the tourism sector across counties like Cavan and Monaghan and along the Border and that the Minister of State is conscious of this issue. Those areas are under threat, first, from a potential hard border, which please God will not happen and is something we should all fight collectively to avoid, and second, from the very real threat of the sterling factor, especially the Northern Ireland dimension of trade in Cavan and Monaghan, for example, from Northern Ireland visitors, wedding groups and so on.

Infrastructure is critical, whether bed and breakfast accommodation, hotels or otherwise. I should declare a family interest in this area but I can sincerely say I raise the issue solely as a public representative. There is also the question of the rural pub, which is an important part of our tourism product. Pubs have been a focal point for Ireland and its tourism product and I am concerned to ensure they are not totally eliminated. It is an area that needs to be looked at, even in terms of examining pub facades and layout. Pubs are an important part of the product, as are bed and breakfast establishments and hotels. We need good product.

We need to spread the visitors throughout the country. While it is important that visitors are in all the hotspots, we need to spread them out to places like Cavan and Monaghan in my constituency. County Cavan has many products, for example, the Cavan Burren park, the museum, Killykeen forest and the UNESCO geopark. There is a great range of restaurants, a unique angling product and a number of woodland and forest areas. In Monaghan there is the whole cultural heritage aspect around Patrick Kavanagh and so many other facets, including Farney country music festival. There is a huge product there that needs to be developed and supported. It is very important to get tourists into the regions so tourism is not limited to a few parts of Ireland. While that is not completely the case, we need to develop the regions. I am delighted my county of Cavan is now part of the new initiative, Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, and is also part of the eastern area. I hope that can all be developed.

I agree with the remarks on skill sets. The education and training boards, ETBs, should be marshalled in this regard because we have to ensure staff are available in the hospitality sector. We must diversify constantly and develop new product, and we need to continue to up our game. To finish where I started, it is important we do not price ourselves out of the market.