Gareth Scahill (Fine Gael)

I rise today following a meeting yesterday with the Irish Hotels Federation, IHF, which is a representative body that represents more than 900 hotels and guesthouses employing approximately 66,000 people nationally. We in this House are all familiar with their ask with regard to the VAT rate. However, I wish to look a bit further and call for a discussion in this House on how we can support them in training up their staff. There is no training fund for that sector. Many of the institutes have to pay for that out of their own funds. It is a very important sector. We have invested heavily in our tourism sector in this country and we need the IHF to provide the bed nights and the other services to our visitors to make use of and value our investment. I call for a discussion on training but also on sustainability, and supporting that sector in accessing sustainability funding so that it can reduce its carbon footprint and costs. Like every business, this sector is under significant pressure. I would welcome a discussion on that. It is possibly too late for next week, but we could discuss it early in the next term.

While I am standing, I also mention the personal injuries guidelines. I compliment the Minister, Deputy Jim O’Callaghan, and the subcommittee on insurance reform. I compliment all the Members of this House who raised this issue in recent weeks and months, especially Senator Linda Nelson Murray. It is great to see that the Minister has listened to the representations and has supported the businesses that this would have a big effect on.