Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 9: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if a study has been undertaken to assess the impact of the airport departure tax and the damage it is doing to our tourism industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47390/09]

Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 18: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his views on the recommendation of the tourism renewal group to abolish the airport travel tax; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47399/09]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)
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Question 21: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans to enhance the tourism industry here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39526/09]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 23: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans for the promotion and development of the tourism and catering industries in 2010 to ensure the industry can be competitive; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47430/09]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 214: To ask the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism his plans in conjunction with tourism interests to improve the competitiveness of the industry internationally; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48093/09]

Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 9, 18, 21, 23 and 214 together.

The abolition of the air travel tax was just one of a range of measures recommended in the Report of the Tourism Renewal Group as part of a Framework for Action for the period to 2013. I refer the Deputy to my earlier answer to Priority Question No. 47909/09 in respect of progress on the Survival Actions in the Framework. The Government has to consider any measure with tax or spending implications within the wider context of fiscal sustainability and economic renewal. The recommendations of the Renewal Group were taken into account in framing the Budget - along with the views of the Commission on Taxation. The Commission recommended that a review should be undertaken by Government to assess the effects of the air travel tax on business in general and tourism in particular in the context of the pending inclusion of air travel in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme from 2012.

The Renewal Group based its Framework on its various consultations and consideration of tourism strategy. It did not commission formal quantitative assessments. I am advised that some analysis was carried out for Tourism Ireland when the tax was first proposed. This concluded that the impact of the travel tax on aggregate demand for air travel may not be significant although, in specific markets and at specific times, the impact of the €10 additional cost could have a negative impact on demand. I am also advised that, in a submission to the Commission on Taxation, the Chairman of Fáilte Ireland stated that its research estimated that the introduction of the tax would result in a net loss of over €30m to the Irish economy on an annual basis. I am also aware that three airlines commissioned a study of the impact of the Air Travel Tax, which they published last month.

However, the range of factors which affect the numbers of passengers – including inbound tourists - are so varied that any such attempt to put a definite figure on the impact of a single tax has to rest on a large number of assumptions. Even if a study's conclusions are robust, they must be seen in the context of the overall financial challenges we face. The air travel tax is an important revenue raising measure and, in its absence, the revenue would be sought elsewhere. The Government has tried to be as fair as possible in looking at areas for additional tax revenues. It is worth noting that fuel used by commercial airlines is completely exempt from tax.

As I said earlier, the recommendation to abolish the Air Travel Tax was only part of a wide-ranging set of Measures recommended in the Framework for Action which forms, from a tourism perspective, the strategic basis on which Government is responding to the current difficulties. I am fully aware of the many issues affecting the tourist industry, including the issues of costs and competitiveness. Drawing on the Report of the Group, I am determined - as I have already indicated in reply to earlier Priority Questions - to take the lead in identifying and driving the right measures to assist in ensuring that tourism survives and remains a major industry for Ireland and also to position the sector for recovery and growth as the Irish and global economies get back on track.