Irish cities may soon be able to introduce a tourism tax
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The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
Now, Irish cities may soon be able to introduce a tourist tax with a Fianna Fáil motion in support of it to be presented to the Seánad this week. It would allow local councils to introduce a levy on overnight accommodation for visitors and the Housing Minister, James Brown, has no opposition to the move. So would local communities benefit from the additional income or would we only be deterring people from making an overnight stay? I'm joined by the Chief Executive of the Irish Hotels Federation, Paul Gallagher, and Dublin Green Party Councillor, Michael Pidgeon. And you're both welcome to the programme. Paul, you're very much opposed to the notion of this tourist tax, aren't you?
Yeah, I am clear.
What is the proposed tourism tax for Irish cities?
I think, you know, Ireland is a very expensive destination already for tourists to come to. We see Eurostat say we're the most expensive country in the EU for services. So it's true that we are an expensive economy. It's difficult to get here, we're an island, so you have to fly. We don't have the same advantages as other locations across Europe, where you have interconnectivity with trains or a tunnel in the case of the UK. So we are very reliant on air travel. And if Ireland gets too expensive, visitors may choose to go somewhere else. And I know at Tourist Tax, people say, but that's no amount of money at all. Hotels pay significant money already for services provided by our local authorities. And tourists who don't have a vote shouldn't be charged.
And, of course, domestic citizens stay in Irish hotels if they're coming from Cork to Dublin. They would be paying double taxation if they were to stay in a hotel. So it's really not a fair system.
It looks, though, as though the momentum now is moving towards this being introduced or at least councils having the freedom to introduce it. Would you agree?
Yeah, look, I think there's been a lot of pressure over the last number of years by councillors, particularly in Dublin, and then in the other council offices around the greater Dublin area.
How might local communities benefit from a tourism tax?
And whilst it may be coming, at every opportunity when I ask anyone who comes to speak on this issue, what is the purpose of it, we get really very little, if any, detail at all. And, you know, spokespersons have said it's only 12 million, it's only 20 million, it's only 100 million. I think quite honestly, if I was creating a plan for the improvement of Dublin for the benefit of everybody who comes and the citizens who live here, I'd like to know what the action plan was first, what is going to be delivered, and rather than talk about the money first, I think, you know, We may discover that we're less resistant if we really understood what was going on. And no one, not one person, has ever contacted me, regardless of the numbers of interviews I've done on this subject over the last three years.
Well, let's find out if Michael Pidgeon has any answers now, Dublin Green Party councillor. Michael, what would be the purpose of this tax, which Paul says ultimately would be damaging for the tourism industry?
I could give a direct answer as an example. Maybe he wouldn't want to spend it like this, but 12 million a year would be roughly what would be raised by a 1% service charge or hotel tax in Dublin City Council. That would be 250 in and around full-time street cleaners. So there's one example of what you want to do. Now, you might say, actually, we'd prefer... 30% of the money to go into parks or something other than street cleaning, cultural events, that sort of thing. That's absolutely fine. But I think the reason the conversation starts with the money is because that's ultimately where a lot of ideas go to die in city councils, because you just don't have the funds for them. So as a city councillor, I'm always looking for ways to improve the city.
And whether you're running a hotel or a city council, you always know you have to invest some money in order to get a return. And this, I think, is an idea whose time has come.
What are the concerns of the Irish Hotels Federation regarding the tax?
You mentioned that there's a lot of momentum behind it.
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