Emer Currie (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This morning, I want to raise the wedding industry, which is worth approximately €2.3 billion per annum. I understand it is worth more than the conferences industry. We all know the impact of weddings on our local economies in terms of the business for venues, caterers, bakeries, florists and hair and beauty salons, all of which services attract VAT at 23%, not 9%. There is a wedding ecosystem. Ireland is a top international destination for weddings. It competes with other markets in that regard and had been doing really well in the past few years.

Weddings are not properly classed under the Covid restrictions. They should be classed as events. This will be important going forward as part of the recovery. Weddings are not appropriately catered for under tourism or hospitality. Not every wedding takes place in a hotel. They also do not fall under the arts even though live entertainment is part of it. They are also not accommodated under the business sector, although they have been able to avail of some grants. As part of the reopening, weddings need dedicated information and guidelines available at one location. It is important for recovery and planning to avoid the loss of business to other markets and to market Ireland as a destination. The UK is doing this in respect of Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. They all provide this information. It affects the backlog of 30,000 weddings from last year and thus far this year and all of the couples involved. Wedding planners and the industry are being left to field all of the questions.There is an organisation called Wedding International Professionals Association, WIPA, which has started operating in Ireland, that helps in this regard. The House can imagine the kinds of questions those in the industry have. Clarity around numbers indoors and outdoors as part of our guidelines is not enough. They are asking questions about marquees, whether the numbers include vendors and the couple, and whether they can carry out risk assessments based on size like those being conducted in the North.

I mentioned a figure of 30,000 weddings. The average wedding costs €32,000. A destination wedding can cost €500,000 to €1 million. The cost for a leisure tourist is estimated at €90 per bed night and €300 for a conference, but we do not even measure how much wedding tourists give back to the economy.