Irish Tourist Industry Confederation

Politician(s) lobbied: Peter Burke (Minister), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Laura Mannion (Special Advisor), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Intent: Clarification on areas of the draft National Planning Statement.::Clarify clause 5.1 relating to planning retention application so it doesn't delay joining the STL register when it comes into affect on 31/12/26.::Allow an STL property that has been in operation for over seven years without an enforcement notice to be allowed on the Fáilte Ireland register with its planning number marked as pending, which will remove cliff-edge and give local authorities more time to process applications and at the same time give relief to long-established STL operators.

Methods: Letter

Politician(s) lobbied: Peter Burke (Minister), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Declan Hughes (Secretary General), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Fiona Coyne (Assistant Secretary General), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Elaine Harold (Special Advisor), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Intent: Influence Government policy in terms of increasing and incentivising the supply of hotel and tourism accommodation, particularly in regional Ireland.::Policy intervention to stimulate new builds and extensions to existing hotels, which should be announced in Budget 2027.

Methods: LetterMeeting

Politician(s) lobbied: James O'Connor (TD), Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas; Albert Dolan (TD), Dáil Éireann, the Oireachtas

Intent: Competitiveness: Measures are needed to improve competitiveness for low margin and labour intensive industries. The 9% Vat rate should be restored to key tourism sectors such as attractions, activity providers and camping sites and Government-induced cost increases must not exceed inflation. Cost of Business Advisory Forum recommendations to be prioritised.::Capacity: Government’s new national policy aims for 50% revenue growth by 2031. However research by ITIC points to a significant hotel shortage particularly in regional Ireland. This will be compounded by restrictions on short-term tourism rentals. Irish tourism capacity needs to be increased and measures will need to be deployed in Budget 2027.::Connectivity: It is welcome that the Dublin Airport passenger cap is being lifted. This process needs to be expedited. In parallel Cork and Shannon airports must be supported in line with maximum EU state aid limits. Air and sea access must be supported and connectivity within the islan

Methods: Meeting

Politician(s) lobbied: Elaine Harold (Special Advisor), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Intent: Keep Department briefed on views from tourism industry

Methods: Meeting

Politician(s) lobbied: Declan Hughes (Secretary General), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Intent: Keep Department officials briefed on tourism industry matters

Methods: Meeting

Politician(s) lobbied: Peter Burke (Minister), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; James Browne (Minister), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Declan Hughes (Secretary General), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Fiona Coyne (Assistant Secretary General), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; John Cummins (Minister of State), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Graham Doyle (Secretary General), Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage

Intent: Establish the short-term letting register on May 20th as committed by Government to bring much needed transparency to a sector. For the first time Ireland will have a register of the number and location of STLs nationally.::Once the register is in place, the planning requirements should not be commenced for a period of 9 months to allow properties on the register to become planning compliant.::Establish a small high-level steering group to include tourism leaders, STL representatives, planning officers, Department officials and Fáilte Ireland to ensure that the STL planning guidelines are fit-for-purpose and tourism in regional Ireland is protected. ::Clarify if the 2-year moratorium is confirmed and will an STL property without planning permission be allowed on the register and thus continue to trade? And does the 2-year moratorium apply to all areas or just those under the population threshold of 20,000?::Will possible exemptions be in the upcoming legislation, for example will the

Methods: Letter

Politician(s) lobbied: Peter Burke (Minister), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Brian Keegan (Special Advisor), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Intent: Help deliver the growth objectives within the policy::ITIC to be included on the implementation group

Methods: Letter

Politician(s) lobbied: Peter Burke (Minister), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Declan Hughes (Secretary General), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Intent: That industry is consulted in the crafting of the policy rather than receive the policy after publication with no input.::Roadblocks hampering tourism growth need to be addressed in the new policy - Dublin Airport passenger cap, weakening competitiveness of the industry, danger of the loss of tourism accommodation as a result of proposed short term letting legislation, lack of state investment in the sector.

Methods: Letter

Politician(s) lobbied: Peter Burke (Minister), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment

Intent: Competitiveness - Ireland is now ranked by Eurostat as the 2nd most expensive country in the EU.The Programme for Government has committed to reducing the VAT rate to 9% for food service businesses and this should be extended to attractions, adventure operators and caravan parks. Costs of business pressures across energy, insurance, excise and labour must also be addressed.::Connectivity - With 70% of the tourism economy dependent on international visitation the passenger cap at Dublin Airport must be lifted. Cork and Shannon airports must also be appropriately supported in line with EU state aid limits.Sea access and connectivity on the island should be prioritised too.::Investment - Tourism contributes €2.9bn annually to the national coffers in tourism related taxes. The return on investment is indisputable. State investment in tourism services currently stands at €251 million, wholly inadequate to meet the challenges ahead. An increase of €90 million is needed to help deliver market

Methods: Meeting

Politician(s) lobbied: Peter Burke (Minister), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Paschal Donohoe (Minister), Department of Finance; Jack Chambers (Minister), Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform; Micheál Martin (Tánaiste and Minister), Department of the Taoiseach; Declan Hughes (Secretary General), Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; David Moloney (Secretary General), Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform; John Hogan (Secretary General), Department of Finance; John Callinan (Secretary General), Department of the Taoiseach

Intent: Competitiveness - Ireland is now ranked by Eurostat as the 2nd most expensive country in the EU.The Programme for Government has committed to reducing the VAT rate to 9% for food service businesses and this should be extended to attractions, adventure operators and caravan parks. Costs of business pressures across energy, insurance, excise and labour must also be addressed.::Connectivity - With 70% of the tourism economy dependent on international visitation the passenger cap at Dublin Airport must be lifted. Cork and Shannon airports must also be appropriately supported in line with EU state aid limits.Sea access and connectivity on the island should be prioritised too.::Investment - Tourism contributes €2.9bn annually to the national coffers in tourism related taxes. The return on investment is indisputable. State investment in tourism services currently stands at €251 million, wholly inadequate to meet the challenges ahead. An increase of €90 million is needed to help deliver market

Methods: MeetingEmail