Dempsey warns against price rises

Hoteliers and other accommodation providers should not engage in “bumping up prices” for people whose flights out of Ireland have been cancelled, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey said this afternoon.

Responding to reports that hotel prices in some European cities had risen sharply as a result of the closure of airports, Mr Dempsey said he hoped such an experience would not happen to foreign visitors in Ireland.

He was making his remarks after a caller to RTÉ said the nightly rate he was quoted for a room in his hotel in Amsterdam, had increased by about 300 per cent, when he said he needed to stay longer, because of the airline difficulty.

Speaking after a meeting of the Government's Taskforce on Emergency Planning Mr Dempsey this afternoon, the Minister said he hoped Ireland would not see "the kind of behaviour where people start getting greedy because people are in a bad situation here".

He said hospitality was "something that is exactly what we pride ourselves on. I would hope hoteliers and others, if they can make accommodation available, that they wouldn't start bumping up prices because people are in a crisis situation."

Mr Dempsey said the taskforce was trying to get as much information out early "because in the past problems have arisen because there has been confusion or no information."