Tourism Promotion
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-13
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Peter Burke (FG), Longford-Westmeath

The Deputy is quite right in relation to the CSO earlier in the year. I was making the point that it has recovered significantly over the past four months. We took immediate action. We brought forward a plan that will grow the sector significantly over the next five years. I will work on extending the season because 50% of visitors come from June to September. We are trying to bring it from St. Brigid's Day out to Halloween which will be a significant asset. We are also looking at an all-Ireland culinary strategy which will assist growth of the food and beverage sector. Critically, we will have 12% more seats coming into Ireland through our air carriers this winter. If one looks at the markets the Deputy mentioned, we will have 13% more in Germany, 8% more in France and 7% more in the UK. The previous winter, we had 9% fewer seats in total. That has been a big challenge for the sector. There are 46,000 SMEs which deliver our authentic tourism product. They are now in the heart of my Department. That is why policy has changed. I have made a complete gear change, with my two Ministers of State, in tourism policy. We are working to support SMEs, extend the season and work on accommodation providers. We have 11,500 beds now in construction, 8,600 of which are in Dublin, and moving away from State contracts with private hotel accommodation which will be important for the sector.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-13