Vol. 527 No. 2
10 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Finance if he has received a pre-budget submission from the Irish Hotels Federation; if so, if he will outline his response to the submission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25961/00]
18 Mrs. B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Finance if he has received a pre-budget submission from the Irish Hotels Federation; his response to the issues raised in the submission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26140/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 and 18 together.
I have received the submission in question and it will be considered in the context of the forthcoming budget. I met a delegation from the Irish Hotels Federation on Friday, 10 November and I discussed its submission with it at that meeting.
I had an idea we might have some difficulty getting information from the Minister on this or related questions. I will put one relatively uncontroversial point to him. The case is made that there are particular labour shortages in the hotel industry. We have all heard anecdotal evidence, at least, of the tourism industry recruiting from abroad. It makes the case that accommodation it provides for such workers should not be treated for tax purposes as BIK.
There would be very little point in my reading out the submission of the Irish Hotels Federation. It deals with tax matters and various other issues. Any of the tax matters will be considered in the context of the budget, as will all the submissions I received from other groups. However, I am not in a position to comment further, as the Deputy will appreciate.
