Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 December 2023
91. Deputy Alan Dillon asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the reason restaurants, cafés and gastropubs in areas highly dependent on tourism are not part of the new €10 million support scheme to assist those affected by the use of local hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation to house refugees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53468/23]
View answerAs Minister for Tourism my statutory functions relate to the tourism sector and tourism-specific businesses operating therein, primarily providers of activities, attractions and accommodation.
While elements of the hospitality sector are important parts of the wider tourism ecosystem, I do not have responsibility for the general hospitality or food services sector, which are, ultimately, important segments of the wider enterprise economy.
However, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment and Minister Martin and I co-chair the Hospitality and Tourism Forum which brings together on a regular basis these two important and inter-related sectors.
The Forum provides a platform for structured engagement between the tourism and hospitality sectors and the relevant Government Departments where key issues can be discussed with a view to identifying practical solutions. The Forum is due to meet again on 13 December and key stakeholders within the hospitality industry are represented in this Forum.
The core responsibilities of Fáilte Ireland, as set out in the National Tourism Development Authority Act, relate to tourism businesses only. Key building blocks for the wider tourism sector are the core tourism activities and attractions around which a wider ecosystem develops which is, of course, of benefit to segments of the hospitality industry. Fáilte Ireland, in seeking to support the tourism industry and sustain Ireland's position as a high-quality and competitive tourism destination, provides a range of practical business supports to help tourism businesses better manage and market their products and services.
In June 2023, Fáilte Ireland carried out a detailed analysis of data provided by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth concerning the bed stock under contract to accommodate Ukrainian Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection and International Protection applicants (IPs). This established that 13% to 14% of all Fáilte Ireland registered tourism bed stock is currently under contract to the State. An additional quantum of non-registered tourism-type accommodation stock is also contracted.
As part of the Budget settlement that I have secured for tourism in 2024, up to €10 million has been identified for a comprehensive programme of supports targeted at downstream tourism businesses experiencing particular trading challenges linked to the reduction in footfall to activities and attractions in regions most impacted by tourism bed stock displacement.
This programme of supports includes investment in sustainable tourism development and promotion, industry digitalisation, promotion of domestic tourism and festivals and recruitment and retention initiatives.
I asked Fáilte Ireland to engage with impacted businesses to consider the scope for a specific business support scheme that could help the most affected tourism activities and attractions. My officials and Fáilte Ireland are engaging intensively on this and I hope to see the details of this scheme finalised and published soon.
The Government has strongly supported the tourism and hospitality sectors through a range of fiscal supports, particularly during the period of the Covid pandemic, and more recently in dealing with the challenges facing the sector. These supports have included the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme, Pandemic Unemployment Payment, Covid Restriction Support Scheme, Business Resumption Support Scheme, Fáilte Ireland’s Tourism Business Continuity Scheme, the Outdoor Dining Scheme and the retention of the lower VAT rate since November 2021 until 1 September 2023.
In Budget 2024, the Increased Costs of Business Scheme (ICOB) was introduced by my colleague, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, as part of Budget 2024. It provides for a once-off grant to benefit up to 130,000 small and medium businesses at a cost of €250m.
The aim of the Scheme is to provide financial support to those firms which have been most impacted by additional business costs, by providing a tiered grant equivalent to up to half business rates for this year. This will also go some way to helping businesses meet the increase in the Minimum Wage to €12.70, which is obviously an important step towards the Government’s commitment to introducing a Living Wage.
This is a welcome initiative, which embodies a whole of Government approach to assisting small and medium sized businesses particularly with the extraordinary challenges of recent years.
