Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know. In my humble opinion, we are exacerbating the situation. The Minister of State said that bringing in a new charge related to Brexit is not easy. He is right but why are we changing it? We are tying the industry's hands behind its back. The one thing I have learned in my 16 years as a public representative is to listen. I have made many mistakes but one tries to learn. People in the industry are making contact with me about this issue who have never spoken to me about tourism or hospitality previously. We are putting an impediment in front of our tourism sector. Senator Casey is a hotelier so he understands this better than any of us. It is quite unusual. Tá seisear ball den Rialtas ag caint mar gheall ar an mBille seo. Members of the Government are coming in here to speak on a particular matter of a Bill, about which we are concerned.

Let us look at the bigger picture for a second. The debacle that led to tragic losses of life grounded the Boeing 737 fleet. As a result, Norwegian Air left our aviation space. That had an impact on Shannon and Cork airports, and on Dublin Airport to a lesser extent. Then we had the pandemic. Senator Casey correctly identified the relationship between corporation tax and the VAT rebate scheme and one of the attractions we have as a unique selling point is our tax-free shopping. The Minister of State and Senator Garvey are correct that we need to look at developing an app, but the app in itself is not the issue. That is one element of it. How many of us have been abroad in other countries and could not be bothered to claim tax back because it was too cumbersome and we were rushing to get to our flights? Let us make it easy.Paul Kelly and Niall Gibbons told the Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht earlier this week that it would take five years to recover, a large-scale marketing campaign was required, this year had been catastrophic and there would be a rapid acceleration in insolvencies. Those are not my words but those of people who know.

I appreciate the change made in the Bill and I really appreciate the supports the Government has given to the hospitality sector, as does the industry. We are talking about balanced regional development and sustaining tourism in rural communities. Are we really saying that we will tie the hands of an industry that has experienced a €6 billion reduction in revenue and the loss of hundreds of jobs?The long-haul aviation sector is looking at 2022 and beyond. The Minister of State referred to the stay-and-spend scheme. I hope we will extend it. I appreciate and value the Minister of State's comments and he is right that level 5 restrictions have meant that people have not travelled. The scheme needs to be extended and we need to incentivise it.The Power report speaks of a €108 million contribution to the economy outside Dublin.

My mind returns to the middle of July or August in a normal year in Blarney Woollen Mills, where we have gaggles of tourists shopping, a buzz and an atmosphere, and, as Senator Casey rightly said, lots of questioning. We are known for our welcome and the VAT refund scheme is linked to that. Reference was made to the United Kingdom leaving the EU but how has Revenue engaged? Have the data and an analysis been published on why we are doing this? Why is it being done in the Brexit Bill? I appreciate the Minister of State's remarks about the different tax clauses and the exemption of the North but he also spoke of abuses. Has there been wholesale abuse? I do not know but I would like to hear if there was. What are the projections for the Exchequer?

I believe in listening to people. One can legitimately argue that those who have made representations to us have vested interests. They do because they are business people and employers who are part of our tourism experience and culture. I am told that UK visitors do not primarily spend on consumer goods - Senator Casey may wish to add to that - and, as a consequence, refunds should be very low. I contend that Revenue's concern is unjustified. It would be better if we made no change to the existing scheme, in keeping with what Senator Chambers said, in the context of the review and rather than putting the cart before the horse, putting the horse with the cart. I ask the Minister of State to look at that.

This is about jobs and the marketing of our country in the years after 2020. If one talks to travel agents and those involved in the hospitality sector, aviation, cruise liners, the Port of Cork - representatives of the ports appeared before the transport committee yesterday - there is devastation. I fully recognise the assistance the Government is giving through various supports. We were one of the first countries to move in the area of supports. There should be no changes to the existing scheme. I welcome the change in the threshold from €175 to €75, which is a step forward, but I do not know why we have changed the scheme.

I mentioned Ireland and Spain earlier. Why did we change? I have not heard a convincing reason. We are effectively saying "Yes" to the proposal by Paul Kelly and Niall Gibbons to have a massive marketing campaign and, at another level, we are saying we have to do this too. I do not see the sense of that. I appreciate that we are trying to get everything aligned with the Brexit date and the implications for imports, but surely a time must come when industry and Government align. The competing forces do not have to clash the whole time. In this case, there is no logical reason we could not maintain the status quo. It is about further support. The new €75 threshold removes 50% of transactions and 16% of sales and has been linked to 470 potential job losses in retail. I hope we can have a further discussion on the financial impact on business. As Senator Casey said, this affects the mid-range in the market. I appreciate where the Minister of State is coming from but I hope we can see further movement.