Minister for Housing James Browne has said he has “no difficulty” with powers being given to cities who want to introduce a so-called “tourism tax” despite opposition from hoteliers.
A nightly levy imposed on tourists is a feature of many European cities and has been considered in Dublin, but would require a change at the national level in order to give councils the power to impose such a step.
It comes in advance of a Fianna Fáil motion in the Seanad this week calling on the Government to advance legislation to empower local authorities to introduce a visitor levy on paid overnight accommodation in their areas.
A spokeswoman for Browne, who also has responsibility for local government, said in advance of the motion that he “has no difficulty with the introduction of such a levy if the city councils felt it would work”.
READ MORE
Speaking recently in the Seanad, Senator Mary Fitzpatrick – who will be among those putting down this week’s motion – said such a tax is “common internationally”.
Fianna Fáil’s parliamentary party supported a proposal from Dublin North-West TD Paul McAuliffe to allow for a visitor accommodation levy in the capital, while the party’s Senators will put down a motion in the Seanad this week.
Ireland gears up for EU presidency and Andy Burnham sweeps Makerfield byelection
McAuliffe’s plan envisaged such a step for Dublin only, but wider legislation could allow other councils to introduce a levy. It is anticipated that Browne would be responsible for such legislation, but that Minister for Finance Simon Harris would also play a significant role.
The introduction of a tourist tax regime would face opposition from hoteliers at least, while Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke and Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan have previously indicated concerns over such a step.
However, there is support on the Fine Gael backbenches for such a move, including from the party’s Dublin spokesman James Geoghegan, who represents Dublin Bay South and has said he supports a “modest” levy with revenues ring-fenced for Dublin city.
Spokesmen for Harris and Taoiseach Micheál Martin did not respond last week to queries concerning such a tax.
The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) said there are “no grounds for introducing an additional tourist tax on Irish consumers and overseas visitors”.
Against a backdrop of rising costs for the industry, an IHF spokeswoman said putting a new tax in place “makes no sense, particularly at a time when we are trying to make Ireland stand out as an attractive destination for visitors. A bedroom tax would also mean less money for tourists to spend in downstream tourism businesses and less money when tourists go on to visit and stay in other parts of the country.”
Hoteliers were also sharply critical of plans introduced by Dublin City Council to double the development levy on hotels, which will take place from next month.
The group said that introducing the change would increase the charge from €2.5 million to €5 million for a new-build hotel of about 20,000sq m. Advocates of the move said that increasing the levy would direct more money towards home building, against a backdrop of concern over the development of sites in Dublin for tourist accommodation rather than permanent homes.
