Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 212: To ask the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport if she will outline any grants or assistance that are available for the development of hotel accommodation and facilities; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [28537/10]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Under section 8 of the National Tourism Development Authority Act 2003 it is a function of Fáilte Ireland to support the development of tourism enterprises in the State. I have no statutory function in relation to the administration of supports or the award of grants or assistance to tourism enterprises.

The National Tourism Development Authority, Fáilte Ireland, has an allocation of funding for Tourism Product Development to stimulate investment in tourism development projects. However, there are no supports available as part of this capital investment programme for the development of accommodation facilities including hotels, guesthouses etc.

As the Deputy may be aware, a tax incentive scheme was previously in place that allowed for a 7-year rate of write off of capital expenditure incurred in the construction/refurbishment of hotel buildings. The scheme was terminated as of the 4 December 2002 with transitional periods extending to the 31 July 2008. Hotel projects that commenced in their entirety after 31 July 2008 (earlier if certain conditions relating to the securing of planning permission were not fulfilled) can claim the general industrial buildings allowance of 4% per annum over 25 years.

Details of the grants and supports available to new and established tourism businesses are accessible on Fáilte Ireland's website at www.failteireland.ie.

Those supports include:-

Capital grants for physical tourism attractions;

Various non-capital grants to assist individual businesses and trade groups with the marketing of their products;

The Mid-Shannon Corridor Scheme; grants towards the funding of Festivals and Cultural Events;

and the Business Expansion and Seed Capital Scheme.

Aside from the programmes above, Fáilte Ireland provides a range of other supports to tourism businesses. These include:

A range of interactive tools on topics relevant to businesses;

an e-business support initiative;

Business Mentoring; Employment Law Compliance;

Business promotion through a variety of promotional events;

and Resources and guides related to the area of marketing and publicity.