A leading representative group for the tourism sector is seeking a VAT break, more State cash and an end to the Dublin Airport passenger limit in its pre-budget shopping list.
The Irish Tourism Industry Confederation (ITIC) has warned Minister for Finance Jack Chambers that his first budget — due on October 1st — will be critical to one of the Republic’s biggest employers.
The confederation wants Mr Chambers to restore the special 9 per cent VAT rate for hospitality businesses and extend it to attractions, caravan parks and other tourism-related services.
ITIC’s submission notes that a study by economist Jim Power shows that Government-introduced labour measures could cost the industry up to €1.4 billion by 2026.
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Those measures include a switch to a living wage, social insurance increases, sick pay and obligatory pension enrolment.
With nine out of 10 tourists arriving by air, the organisation wants an end to the 32 million passengers a year limit on Dublin Airport, the country’s biggest gateway.
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“Along with the State’s failure to maximise support for Cork and Shannon Airports, this means that the welfare of 40,000 tourism and hospitality businesses is immediately jeopardised,” says the document.
Mr Power’s research calculates that the Republic loses €1.4 billion for every one million passengers denied use of Dublin Airport by the cap, imposed by planners as a condition of allowing its owner, DAA, build a second terminal.
DAA is seeking permission from Fingal County Council, its local planning authority, to lift the cap to 40 million as part of a plan to extend the airport, and could seek interim permission to raise it to 36 million while planners consider the earlier application.
ITIC wants Mr Chambers to increase Budget 2025′s tourism allocation to €200 million from €167 million this year.
That would aid the industry in paying for local and international marketing and sustainability initiatives, it said.
Niall MacCarthy, ITIC chairman and managing director of Cork Airport, warned that international demand was mixed while business costs were soaring. “We really hope Government will support a home-grown sector that is fundamental to regional economic balance,” he said.
ITIC chief executive Eoghan O’Mara Walsh argued that it was time for Ministers to make good on pledges to aid home-grown industries such as tourism. “Concrete support policies are needed for such an important sector,” he said.
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