Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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161. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will provide an overview of her plans to increase tourism accommodation throughout Ireland; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [37088/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The importance of the tourism sector to the Irish economy and communities in every corner of Ireland is well understood.

My Department's role in relation to tourism lies primarily in the area of national tourism policy and implementation of that policy is a matter for the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, as well as certain other bodies.

Fáilte Ireland's role as the National Tourism Development Authority is to support the long-term sustainable growth in the economic, social, cultural and environmental contribution of tourism to Ireland.

Fáilte Ireland maintains tourist accommodation registers as provided for under the Tourist Traffic Acts. While development and expansion plans for tourism accommodation is primarily a matter for individual businesses, I am pleased to note that supply in the tourism accommodation sector is ahead of where it was last year due to a mix of factors including more hotels opening, particularly in Dublin, and some existing operators returning their properties to the tourism sector after a period meeting humanitarian accommodation demand. I expect that both these factors will continue to apply in to 2025.

The use of tourist accommodation to support the Government’s response to the humanitarian crisis has impacted the sector. However, it is clear that the revised approach adopted by the Government earlier this year is taking effect and is reducing the reliance by the State on the use of tourism accommodation for humanitarian purposes.

Fáilte Ireland's analysis of DCEDIY data from May 2024 shows that 10% of all registered tourism accommodation stock was then under contract to the State, down from 12% in November 2023. An additional quantum of tourism-type accommodation that is not registered with Fáilte Ireland is also contracted to the State.

Fáilte Ireland will undertake a further analysis of new data from DCEDIY in Q4 2024 and the expectation at this time is that the analysis could show a further reduction in the State's reliance on tourism accommodation for humanitarian purposes.