Vol. 483 No. 1
152 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Finance if his Department has carried out any assessment of the likely implications for the tourism industry of the moves to abolish duty free sales; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17185/97]
As I reported to this House on 8 October I have asked KPMG Management Consulting to undertake a study into the consequences for Ireland of ending duty free sales for intra-EU travel. This study will be looking at the direct consequences on employment, and to the extent that the abolition of duty free sales will directly affect the tourism industry, this will be taken into account. The study will include an assessment of the extent to which travel fares may rise if operators are no longer able to cross subsidise activities from the profits made on duty free sales.
However, people come to Ireland for a number of reasons and the availability of duty free is hardly likely to be the main one. The number of people travelling has been increasing significantly, and the travel industry is extremely competitive. Also, one of the reasons for the delay in ending duty free sales until 1999 was to allow the travel industry time to diversify and thus minimise any negative impact on its ending. The KMPG study is not likely to be completed until the end of the year.
