Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour)
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588. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the preparations his department has made to date to protect the Irish tourism industry following the Brexit vote. [32077/16]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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​Since the UK referendum on EU membership, all Government departments, including my Department, have been considering the potential implications of the UK's exit from the EU.  Consideration is being given to the "Brexit" challenge in the context of various fora, including Senior Officials Groups, Cabinet Committees, and other work groups.

While there has been a significant devaluation in sterling, and a consequent negative impact on consumer confidence in the UK, all of the details of the UK's exit cannot be known until the conclusion of the EU/UK negotiations.  Of particular interest to tourism will be the implications for the border, for the Common Travel Area, for trade, and for the peace process.  Currently, all of the implications of Brexit are not yet known.

With regard to tourism, expert forecasting has highlighted the strong likelihood of a significant reduction in the number of GB residents expected to travel abroad on holidays, including a reduction in the number of GB residents expected to travel to Ireland.  

My Department has been engaging with the tourism agencies on how best to plan to respond to the known implications.  Importantly, Budget 2017 retained the 9% VAT rate which has been very beneficial to the tourism sector, in order to provide stability to the industry.  Additionally, Tourism Ireland will be finalising its plans for overseas marketing for 2017 shortly and is expected to maximise value for money by diversifying towards high value markets that could offset the anticipated reduction in visitors from GB.  Other initiatives, under the Tourism Action Plan, are either underway or in various stages of development and are aimed at growing tourism to reach ambitious targets by 2025.