Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

121. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the supports he intends to introduce to ensure the viability of local and regional hotels; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22863/25]

John Connolly (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

130. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the efforts he is making to support hotels to continue operating as hotels to serve the tourism industry and the local community; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22814/25]

Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context

140. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the supports available to develop a community hotel; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22887/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I propose to take Questions Nos. 121, 130 and 140 together.

Tourism is of critical importance to the Irish economy, providing around .227,000 jobs and €6 billion in income to our economy in 2024.

The role of the Department 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. It should be noted that, following the making of a Government Order on Tuesday, statutory responsibility for the sector will transfer to my colleague Minister Peter Burke from 1 June

The Government recognises the central importance of the tourism sector to Ireland's economy and communities and is acutely aware of the importance of local tourism accommodation as a resource for businesses and communities throughout Ireland. The economic and societal role of such accommodation in regional towns and all areas where tourism is of high value to the local economy is well understood.

On 28 March 2024, the Government agreed a new comprehensive accommodation strategy for International Protection applicants that will see a move away from full reliance on private accommodation providers towards a State-owned accommodation resource, delivering 14,000 beds by 2028.

The reliance by the State on the use of tourism accommodation for humanitarian purposes has reduced following the introduction of this new strategy and Fáilte Ireland's most recent analysis of data from the Department of Children, Equality, Disabililty, Integration and Youth in November 2024 showed that 7% of registered tourism accommodation stock was under contract to the State, down from 12% in November 2023. An updated analysis by Fáilte is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

I am satisfied that Ireland has adequate tourist accommodation capacity to meet current demand, notwithstanding occasional high-demand compression weekends, typically driven by major music or sporting events.

In terms of ensuring adequate future supply, Fáilte Ireland has developed a capacity and pipeline monitor to track movement in tourism accommodation capacity. This includes changes in current capacity and the tracking of the pipeline of tourist accommodation in Ireland focusing on planning, construction commencement and opening phases of development. This will allow Fáilte Ireland to pinpoint challenges that exist in terms of the development of tourism accommodation and to measure the impact arising.

The statutory register of all Short-Term Letting (STL) accommodation in the State will, when implemented by Fáilte Ireland in May 2026, provide a full picture of the stock of tourist accommodation. This will enhance Fáilte Ireland’s ability to promote wider tourism investment. In addition, the combined insights of the accommodation capacity and pipeline monitor and the STL register will help shape and inform Ireland’s long term accommodation development plans to meet changing consumer demands and trends.

Further to a commitment made in the Programme for Government, my Department is currently reviewing the national tourism policy framework. The new framework will shape how our tourism industry develops in the period to 2030. Accommodation bed-stock for tourism use will be considered as part of the new Policy Framework and subsequent Action Plans.