Written answers
Wednesday, 2 April 2025
Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht
Tourism Industry
Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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139. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht f he will report on his engagements regarding Fáilte Ireland’s employer development and excellent employer programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15933/25]
Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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As part of the drive to promote better employment practices, to showcase good employment in the tourism sector and to assist with recruitment and retention in the longer term, Fáilte Ireland launched the Employer Excellence Programme in September 2022 to help participating businesses to improve their employee experience and overall to position the tourism sector as a recognised rewarding place to work.
The focus of the programme is to put the voice of the employee at the heart of the business, to capture their feedback around their experience of working with the business and to help employers to interpret and action this feedback to improve employment practices and drive greater levels of employee engagement.
As part of this programme, all people managers undertake new best-in-class people management training covering everything from best practice induction and performance management to managing high performing teams and giving feedback.
Now in its third year, the programme has attracted over 300 businesses to register to participate, with 2,500 supervisors and managers benefitting from upskilling in best practice People Management skills. Furthermore, 27,500 employees in the tourism sector have been positively impacted by their employer’s participation in the programme.
The programme is run in in addition to the online learning management system “LearniFI”, the tourismcareers.ie website, and the Transition Year Work Placement programme.
Fáilte Ireland research has shown that recruitment and retention has become less difficult for the third year in a row, as measures taken by employers seem to be having an overall positive effect in this regard.
My officials continually engage with Fáilte Ireland concerning the application and outputs of all initiatives and programmes aimed at delivering improvements in meeting labour force requirements for this sector.
Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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140. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will outline any proposals regarding the Year of Invitation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15934/25]
Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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In relation to expanding our tourism offering, the Programme for Government 2025-2030 commits to launching the Year of the Invitation, extending a global invitation for visitors to reconnect with Ireland, following on from the success of The Gathering in 2013.
Officials in my Department, together with the tourism agencies, Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland, are examining how best to deliver on this ambitious Programme for Government commitment. This will include a thorough assessment as to how such a measure can be optimally delivered for the benefit of tourism in Ireland and to identify the most impactful timing of the Year of the Invitation.
Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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141. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will report on his engagements with the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research and Skills regarding the expansion of courses in tourism and hospitality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15935/25]
Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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My officials have ongoing engagement with their counterparts in the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (DFHERIS) regarding education, training and upskilling options and courses available for the tourism sector.
A broad range of courses is currently offered at all levels under the national framework of qualifications to those seeking employment and those in employment in the tourism industry. These courses are accessible and available throughout the country through a range of education providers including Education Training boards, Springboard+ which is managed by the Higher Education Authority, Skillnet Ireland, Further Education colleges and Universities.
The Programme for Government has committed to further expand courses in tourism and hospitality utilising the National Training Fund. My officials met last month met with colleagues in DFHERIS to discuss how this commitment will be realised and that engagement is continuing.
Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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142. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the timeframe in which it is intended to re-establish the tourism and hospitality careers oversight group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15936/25]
Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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143. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his response to the recommendations of the report of the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media on working conditions and skills shortages in the tourism and hospitality sector; the progress in implementing said recommendations, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15937/25]
Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 142 and 143 together.
The Tourism and Hospitality Careers Oversight Group was established to support employment in the tourism and hospitality sector. The Department and the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science are both participants in this group which brings together industry representatives, State agencies, Government Departments and the education sector.
The Department has a positive working relationship and very good engagement with industry on all matters including employment in the tourism and hospitality sector. In the last number of weeks my colleague, the Minister Peter Burke TD, in light of his role as the Minister who will have formal responsibility for tourism once the function has been transferred to him by Government Order, has met and engaged with the Irish Hotels Federation and the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation, in addition to leading a tourism trade mission with Tourism Ireland to the USA.
An independent feasibility study was commissioned by my Department in March 2024 in response to concerns raised by industry representatives about the structure of the Tourism and Hospitality Careers Oversight Group and to the recommendations of the Joint Oireachtas Committee (JOC) report entitled “Working conditions and skills shortages in Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector”. The feasibility study was completed by the IPA and submitted to the Department on 14 October 2024. Once Minister Burke has fully considered this report he will engage with the sector on its findings and on how best to advance the cause of high quality employment within the sector.
In the meantime, Departmental officials will continue to address any issues as they arise and with a specific focus on how best the ongoing engagement with the sector can yield strategic insights on the sustainable growth of quality employment in the tourism and hospitality sector.
The table hereunder details the recommendations of the JOC report and actions taken in response:
| Recommendation | Action | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Committee recommends that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with Cabinet colleagues with a view to establishing an independent body with specific oversight of and responsibility for Ireland’s hospitality sector, with functions analogous to those of Fáilte Ireland in respect of Ireland’s tourism sector. | This recommendation has been examined in the context of an independent feasibility study, commissioned by the Department in March 2024, of a number of recommendations in the Joint Oireachtas Committee report entitled "Working Conditions and Skills Shortages in Ireland's Tourism and Hospitality Sector" which was commissioned by the Department. The study was carried out by the IPA which submitted its final report to the Department in Q4 2024. Minister Burke will review the report and engage with the sector on the implementation of the report findings. |
| 2 | The Committee recommends that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with Cabinet colleagues with a view to nominating a single Government Department to retain direct oversight of and responsibility for all aspects of Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector, to include working conditions and training and recruitment. | This recommendation is also examined within the IPA report as described above. |
| 3 | The Committee recommends that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with industry stakeholders and any other relevant actors or organisations to seek, as a matter of urgency, a workable solution to the legal issues that have shut down the Joint Labour Committees relating to tourism and hospitality, and to ensure that they can be re-established to provide a process for fixing statutory minimum rates of pay and conditions of employment for employees in these sectors, given the clear evidence presented to the Committee of widespread poor pay and working conditions in many parts of the tourism and hospitality sectors. | This recommendation came under the remit of the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Following consultation with that department, Minister Catherine Martin wrote to the JOC on 22 February 2023 confirming that certain matters relevant to this recommendation are before the courts. |
| 4 | The Committee recommends that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with Cabinet colleagues with a view to advocating for the expedition of work permit, visa, and Public Personal Service Number applications for tourism and hospitality workers, as associated processing delays directly impact the sustainability of the sector. The Committee also recommends that any changes to visa processing must include a provision that migrants must be fully informed, supported and supplied with all relevant documents pertaining to their employment including their contract and conditions and pay before their visas are granted. | This recommendation came under the remit of the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Minister Catherine Martin’s letter of 22 February 2023 to the JOC informed the Committee that, in 2022, her Department and Fáilte Ireland worked together to make a case to DETE for reduced processing times for Employment Permit applications for chefs. On foot of this engagement, processing times were reduced from 21 weeks to 2 weeks. Furthermore Minister Martin informed the JOC that DETE continues to keep the employment permits system under review in light of changing labour market circumstances |
| 5 | The Committee recommends that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with Cabinet colleagues with a view to advocating for an increased resourcing of the Workplace Relations Commission to increase the number and prioritisation of Workplace Relations Commission inspections of all tourism and hospitality businesses, with increased inspectorate staffing and an enhanced complaints mechanism for workers in the sector, whereby workers’ anonymity can be respected. | This recommendation came under the remit of the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. In a letter to the JOC of 22 February 2023 Minister Catherine Martin informed the Committee that DETE had committed to ensuring that adequate resourcing is provided to the WRC. |
| 6 | The Committee recommends that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media commission further research to meet the need for detailed research and empirical evidence on working conditions, and on the implementation of employment legislation, in Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector, with a particular focus on how women, minoritised groups, and migrant workers are affected. | This recommendation is also examined within the IPA report as described above. As mentioned at Recommendation 1 above, Minister Burke will review the report and engage with the sector on the implementation of the report findings. |
| 7 | The Committee recommends that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, in engaging in any interdepartmental group or forum concerning Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector, advocate for and/or ensure insofar as is possible that the interests of trade union groups and workers are equally represented alongside those of employers and their representative groups. | In her letter of 22 February 2023 to the JOC Minister Catherine Martin also addressed this recommendation. The Minister confirmed that her Department is supportive of this principle and that it had been given effect within the Hospitality and Tourism Forum which was established in 2020 in response to the COVID crisis. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is a member of the Forum. Minister Martin went on to state that the Labour Employer Economic Forum provides a space to discuss areas of shared concern affecting the economy, employment and the labour market on a thematic basis such as competitiveness, sustainable job creation, labour market standards and equality and gender issues in the workplace. |
| 8 | The Committee recommends that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with the Tourism Careers Oversight Group with a view to nominating a body accountable for the delivery of any recommendations made by the Group. | This recommendation is also considered in the IPA study. As mentioned at Recommendation 1 above, Minister Burke will review the report and engage with the sector on the implementation of the report findings. |
| 9 | The Committee recommends that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media engage with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on the delivery of further apprenticeship, traineeship, and third-level diploma and degree programmes that are geographically accessible to as wide a range as possible of prospective apprentices, trainees, or students, and that are directly relevant to the tourism and hospitality sector. | This recommendation was also addressed in Minister Catherine Martin’s letter of 22 February 2023 to the JOC when she informed the Committee that Fáilte Ireland had written to the JOC addressing the issues raised. Fáilte Ireland referenced an analysis conducted by SOLAS and the Higher Education Authority indicating that there was an excess in the provision of courses in the area of hospitality and the underlying challenge is that there is not sufficient demand. The letter outlined that the wider appeal of courses and careers in the sector needs to addressed and pointed to the Employer Excellence Programme as the key vehicle to drive positive change in how careers in the sector are seen by the future pipeline of talent. |
| 10 | The Committee recommends that Fáilte Ireland further enhance its employer development and Excellent Employer programmes to encourage employers to grant uninhibited access to trade unions, and that Fáilte Ireland coordinate a publicity campaign to highlight such initiatives. | This recommendation was also addressed in Minister Catherine Martin’s letter of 22 February 2023 to the JOC when she informed the Committee that Fáilte Ireland continues to develop its Employer Excellence Programme to support the industry to meet evolving employee expectations and to drive better employment practices across the sector. Minister Martin went on to state that if the issue of accessing trade union membership is highlighted as an action area by employees then employers will be made aware of this when they see their results from the employee feedback. |
| 11 | The Committee recommends that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media work with the industry and workers’ unions to produce a national standardised code of conduct that is mandatory and legally binding for the hospitality sector, including protections for women, migrants, and minority groups. | In her letter of 22 February 2023 to the JOC Minister Catherine Martin informed the Committee that discrimination at work is covered by the Employment Equality Acts and that the legislation covers all aspects of work including recruitment and promotion, the right to equal pay, conditions of employment, training or experience. |
Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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144. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he will report on his engagements in European fora regarding tourism, including at the Ministerial Council and Tourism Working Group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15938/25]
Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that on foot of the recent formation of Government and subsequent departmental reconfigurations, the tourism function is in the process of transfer from my Department and will soon be vested in the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment under Minister Peter Burke TD. The Department is represented at the Council Tourism Working Party by an official based in the Permanent Representation of Ireland to the EU in Brussels and, on occasion, by domestically-based officials depending on the subject matter.
Tourism matters are considered under the COMPET Council and Ireland's engagement with this Council formation is led by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment as it is currently designated until the transfer of functions process is concluded.
The first Tourism Working Party under Poland's Presidency from January to June 2025 took place on 28 January 2025 with a formal presentation of its main priorities on the tourism sector. The Presidency will organise an Informal meeting of EU Tourism Ministers on 23-24 June 2025 in Warsaw to discuss current issues in the tourism sector with a focus on the sustainable development of European tourism. I understand that Minister Burke intends to attend that meeting as the tourism function will have fully and formally transferred to his Department in advance of the meeting.
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