'Good and bad' for tourism

As chief executive of the State's largest hotel chain, Mr Pat McCann of Jurys Doyle Group knows all about the crisis faced by the tourism industry.

After foot-and-mouth and the attacks on the US on September 11th, he wanted Mr McCreevy to introduce specific measures to relieve pressure on the business. In that context, he said, the Budget was "good and bad in spots".

Mr McCann welcomed the allocation of an additional €11 million for tourism marketing. On the minus side, however, he said farmers should not have been the sole beneficiaries of tax relief adjustments granted to restock their flocks.

He said: "The industry that suffered most as a result of foot-and-mouth - tourism - got no tax allowances relative to what farmers have received in this area. "I would have liked to see something done for small hotels and B&Bs in the country. He could have put limits on it for bigger guys like us, so that we wouldn't get it."

Mr McCann was unhappy also with the one-point rise in VAT to 21 per cent, stating it would push inflation higher. In addition, the 5p per litre increase on petrol and diesel displeased him.

He welcomed renewed commitment to large-scale infrastructure projects, particularly roads, and said he concurred with Mr McCreevy's projection that the economy would grow next year by 3.9 per cent.