Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 15 February 2024
227. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the efforts currently in hand to ensure the availability of adequate tourist accommodation in all areas throughout the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7389/24]
View answerI am advised that Fáilte Ireland has completed a number of Accommodation Audits to establish a baseline on existing tourism accommodation capacity for local authorities in each destination and region. This includes a quality and gap analysis for additional accommodation development on a county-by-county basis along with the projected accommodation requirements. Additional capacity supply growth projections have been identified for all counties based on best estimates of demand recovery to 2030, current gaps in the market by location and type, and changing consumer preferences for accommodation categories. These projections recommend a phased pipeline of new supply in line with location specific demand drivers based on identified gaps in the market.
Full audits have been completed for 18 counties to date, as follows: Clare, Donegal, Kerry, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Limerick, Mayo, Sligo, Tipperary, Waterford, Westmeath, Dublin, Cork, Roscommon, Galway, Longford and Offaly. These audits have been issued to the relevant local authorities which will support them as they shape their own tourism accommodation strategies.
This year, Fáilte Ireland intends to secure services for the development of a monitoring system to track the pipeline of tourist accommodation in Ireland focussing 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.
I acknowledge that a significant level of tourist accommodation is taken up as part of the Government’s response to the humanitarian crisis. The Government has agreed that a move from an emergency response to a more mainstreamed approach is appropriate, including through a reduced reliance on serviced accommodation, along with the development of other sources of accommodation such as refurbished properties, rapid builds and modular accommodation as part of the overall response to this humanitarian crisis, and the unprecedented numbers of people seeking asylum and refuge in Ireland.
My colleague, Minister O'Gorman, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, will be bringing a revised white paper to Cabinet regarding the provision of additional accommodation, whether State-owned or State-developed, to add to the existing accommodation stock for International Protection applicants. Additionally, his officials are engaging across Government via the interdepartmental Accommodation Working Group, led by the Department of the Taoiseach on this issue and it is hoped that this approach will, over time, help to reduce the reliance on tourism accommodation.
