Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is not really. If Sinn Féin wants to debate economic policy then I will do that any day but today we will debate the Bill.

I come from Cork, which has got Blarney Castle on the Wild Atlantic Way and the Port of Cork, which has cruise ship liners coming into the harbour, whose passengers then spread out to the tourist attractions in the city and county. The insertion of a €75 threshold in the legislation makes no sense whatever. I appreciate the bona fides of the Minister of State. I listened to him in the Dáil and I understand where Revenue is coming from. This section is causing huge angst in terms of the retail export scheme, traveller eligibility, taxation and tax-free shopping.

Perhaps the Minister of State can tease out with Members who has decided on this measure. To look at the longer-term tourism potential and implications, all one need do is refer to this week's meeting of the Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht, which had the key stakeholders in. They are the people who know and not me, civil servants, commentators or politicians. They told us that in many cases, 2021 is being used as a holding pattern to develop staycations in Ireland by Irish tourists because they recognise that people potentially may not travel. On the Order of Business this morning, Senators Casey and Crowe spoke eloquently about the damage that Covid-19 has done to the hospitality sector. Are we really saying, as part of a Brexit Bill, that we will do four things, namely, create a new type of tourist, create a division in the tourism sector, place a further tax on the hospitality sector and state we could lose jobs? I know that is not the intention of the Minister of State, Deputy Fleming. I ask that a significant alternative is considered because the €75 threshold will have a catastrophic impact. I do not attend this House too often for Bills but I have been inundated with correspondence from business people who are entrepreneurs and risk takers in the hospitality and retail sector. The Minister of State knows better than I do that one could drive a massive chasm through the tourism sector in terms of the decimation this year. This is not about the Guinness Storehouse or other major attractions with large footfall, it is about small, independent retail and hospitality outlets in tourism-driven areas. I ask the Minister of State to outline Department of Finance's thought process behind this suggestion. The Labour Party has tabled another amendment to reduce the threshold to €50. I will speak on that matter when we come to it. Figures provided to us indicate that a €50 threshold would remove 40% of transactions but only 8% of sales, whereas a €75 threshold would remove 50% of transactions and 16% of sales. If those figures are wrong, then they should be challenged.

What are we implying and inferring by this measure? I am sure the Minister of State and his officials are aware that there are tourists who spend lavishly and other tourists who either do not spend or who are very conscientious in their spending. We have all visited Blarney Woollen Mills, Killarney, the Rock of Cashel and other places that the Americans come to and spend money with abandon. Other tourists spend significantly less. For tourism marketing, our nearest neighbours are the people in Great Britain. They will potentially travel here and we must be able to say, in keeping with our tradition of céad míle fáilte, that ours is an island of welcomes and that applies to our policy on VAT and tax rebate.

I do not always come to the House to speak on legislation like this, but it is exercising me because I know the people who will be affected. Has Revenue engaged in any real analysis? I appreciate that its job is to collect taxation and so on. Have we grasped the nettle and taken a whole-of-government approach? I do not think we have. What is the potential revenue gain to the State in what is proposed? That needs to be balanced with what we lose in revenue coming in and in terms of jobs.

This is about non-EU visitors to Ireland. Many people living in our tourism hotspots or hubs depend on tourists arriving to make ends meet. I am not a stakeholder in Blarney Woollen Mills but I do shop there. I have no vested interest other than ensuring that we provide jobs, present Ireland as a country of welcomes and make our tourism product, which we all accept is brilliant, even better.

There is a dependency on tourists for revenue. The Minister of State is a very good politician working on the ground. While he is an ordinary guy, he is also a professional person who understands business. He understands that all of those involved in tourism, including coach operators, retail outlets, tour guides and other operators, are on their knees. I could keep listing all the categories affected. The challenge will not be 2021 because that is already being planned for. The challenge will be to get it back in 2022 and 2023. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications Networks. Representatives of the aviation sector have appeared before the committee to discuss the response to Covid-19.

I appreciate that very few countries have a rebate scheme with no threshold; I think it is just Ireland and Spain. In Denmark and Finland, it is €40; in the Netherlands and Germany, it is €50; and in Norway it is €30. We propose to go to €75. Why are we doing that? If there is a rebate entitlement for overseas visitors to spend more, surely the economy will benefit through more jobs and a higher income tax take. I will come back in shortly. I appreciate the Minister of State's sincerity and bona fides. However, I wonder what we are trying to achieve by this change.