Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the matter of our tourism industry and where it is going at the moment. Obviously, we have moved out of Covid-19, which is very welcome, and, hopefully, we are moving back to a normal cycle when it comes to tourism. Unfortunately, the war in Ukraine has affected confidence in the tourism market. The US visitors that we would like to see coming back to west Cork in numbers this summer season seem to have a confidence issue in the marketplace at the moment. We need to have a very significant debate about what will be done for the next three to six months on tourism, what actual projects will be pushed, and what advertising campaigns will be run to attract the numbers required to ensure a sustainable tourism industry.

The VAT issue must also be spoken about. The VAT rate as it relates to the tourism trade is proposed to increase towards the end of the summer. We should have a debate about this with the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform in this Chamber about what their plans are for the rate going forward. We need to have an holistic approach about our tourism industry. The world has changed dramatically in the past six weeks. Ireland could have a scenario whereby it might not have the numbers we expected. Do we need to start talking about a vacation policy? Do we need to start promoting our own indigenous population to stay here with us to make sure we have a viable industry for the next six or eight months? There is a lot of things happening in this area in a short time. A real debate with the Minister forTourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in this Chamber in the next two weeks would go a long way to settle the nerves of the tourism industry.