Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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My role and that of my Department in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national tourism policy development and in securing resources to assist the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, in implementing that policy. In Budget 2024 I secured funding of €218 million to continue the support for tourism development at home and amongst overseas visitors; whilst supporting continued recovery in the sector.

While elements of the hospitality sector are important parts of the wider tourism ecosystem, as Minister for Tourism I do not have responsibility for the general hospitality sector which is ultimately an important segment of the wider enterprise economy.

However, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and I co-chair the Hospitality and Tourism Forum which brings together on a regular basis these two important and inter-related sectors. Key stakeholders from the tourism and hospitality sectors are represented in this Forum. The Forum provides a platform for structured engagement between the tourism and hospitality sectors and the relevant Government Departments where key matters can be discussed with a view to identifying practical solutions. Key stakeholders within tourism and hospitality sectors were present when this Forum recently met in person on 24 January 2024.

In this regard it is worth pointing to the Increased Costs of Business Scheme introduced by my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the recent announcement by the Minister of Finance, Michael McGrath, of significant changes to the Tax Debt Warehousing scheme with a reduction in the interest rate applying to warehoused tax debt to 0%. Both these measures will be of direct benefit to a wide range of businesses within the tourism sector.