Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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103. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on a tourist tax for Irish cities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31070/25]

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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104. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the amount a tourist tax of €5-a-bed would generate for the city of Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31071/25]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 103 and 104 together.

The introduction of a visitor accommodation levy was proposed in , the Report of the Commission on Taxation and Welfare published in September 2022 and, more recently, in , the report of the Dublin City Taskforce published in October 2024, specifically for Dublin City. In the case of the latter, the mooted levy was presented as part of the funding mechanism proposed to support implementation of the actions in the Dublin City Taskforce Report.

The introduction of such a levy would need careful consideration, given the importance of inbound international tourism to Ireland's economy, regionally and nationally. A visitor accommodation levy would have to take account of many issues, including who would be liable to pay it; for example, whether its application would be limited to international visitors or extended to all visitors, including domestic visitors. The geographic scope of such a measure would also be an issue for consideration. Other issues arising include the need for an effective and accurate collection system for both visitor accommodation data and any levy being applied, and the potential administrative impact of these on paid accommodation providers.

Given these and other possible parameters that may arise in any exploration of the introduction of a levy, I am not currently in a position to speculate on the quantum of revenue that could potentially be generated either locally or nationally by such a levy.