Local Authorities
Seanad Éireann — 2026-04-16
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Mary Fitzpatrick (FF), Industrial and Commercial Panel

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Minister of State. I welcome the confirmation from the Government of its commitment to give powers to local authorities to introduce, if they so choose, a visitor charge. It is very welcome that the Government is supporting this initiative from local authorities. Each local authority is an independent authority and will determine in its own good time and based on its own circumstances the appropriateness or not of a visitor tax. It is the Government's job to support our local authorities to operate to their maximum capacity. In committing to introducing legislation and supporting the local authorities by giving them those powers, the Government is doing a good job for local authorities. The Minister of State might bring back to the Department that I would be keen to get a clearer visibility on the timelines. Obviously, there will be a budget in October. Each local authority makes its annual budget towards the end of the year. It will be really important for local authorities to know in advance of making their annual budget when they will have these powers available to them because it will potentially be of huge benefit to them.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-04-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:49+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-04-16