Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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587. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the degree to which various elements of the tourism sector have grown over the past five years; his plans for the future in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42424/17]

Shane Ross (Dublin Rathdown, Independent)
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Statistics published by the Central Statistics Office show that in the five year period between 2011 and 2016, the number of overseas visits to Ireland increased by 47.3%. This increase can be broken down further as follows –

- 36.3% increase in visits from Great Britain

- 44.6% increase in visits from Mainland Europe

- 83.2% increase in visits from North America

- 54.2% increase in visits from Other areas

The Government's Tourism Policy Statement "People, Place and Policy – Growing Tourism to 2025" was launched in March 2015. The main targets contained in the Tourism Policy Statement, to be achieved by 2025, are as follows:

- Overseas tourism revenue to increase to €5 billion net of inflation, compared to €3.5 billion in 2014;

- Overseas visits to Ireland to increase to ten million, compared to 7.6 million in 2014; and

- 250,000 people to be employed in the tourism sector.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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588. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport if he is satisfied regarding the availability of an adequate number of hotel and guest house beds to facilitate the growing tourism sector; if he plans particular initiatives in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42425/17]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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Fáilte Ireland monitors the performance of tourist accommodation through regular occupancy surveys. This analysis indicates that while the country as a whole has sufficient stock of tourist accommodation, there are capacity constraints in areas of high tourist traffic at times of peak demand and additional capacity is required in certain parts of the country, particularly Dublin city.

In this context, Fáilte Ireland commissions periodic assessments of hotel accommodation in Dublin. Although the results confirm the current shortage, they also indicate that there should be sufficient stock - whether being developed currently or being planned - to meet projected demand in the future, with the bulk of new stock due to come on-stream after 2018.

With specific regard to factors within my Department's and Fáilte Ireland's remit, revised hotel Regulations were introduced last year in response to consumer preferences and in order to boost the economic rationale for investment in hotel development. The changes set out in these Regulations should make investment even more attractive by allowing hotel operators provide more rooms and operate at a lower cost base, thereby improving hotel capacity, competitiveness and profitability. Consumers should also benefit in terms of increased room capacity, competition and range of accommodation.