I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate on tourism. Tourism is worth almost €9 billion a year to our national economy. It supports jobs in every county, town and community across this country. Last year, almost 6.5 million visitors from overseas came to Ireland, spending an estimated €5.5 billion. We should, however, be honest about the trend. Visitor numbers in 2025 were down 3% and spend was down 9%. Cost is a factor and access is a factor. We cannot take this sector for granted. In my constituency of Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, tourism generates an estimated €126 million a year, according to the council's tourism strategy. It supports more than 3,000 jobs locally. At the centre of it is Dún Laoghaire Harbour, a great regional amenity. Last year, more than 80 cruise ships called to the harbour. More than four in ten of those passengers spent time in the town itself. That is footfall through our local shops, cafés and restaurants from April right through to September. The town has invested in itself. The DLR Lexicon, for example, is now the most visited public library in Ireland, welcoming around 1,300 people a day. The restored Dún Laoghaire baths facility has been brought back to life and has brought life to the seafront as well. Our visitors' offering is real and distinctive, with the east pier, the Forty Foot and the James Joyce Tower. Interestingly, next week is Bloomsday and I commend entrepreneurs like Peter Caviston and volunteers like Margaret Brown on all the work they have done keeping that event going over the decades. We also have the National Maritime Museum of Ireland in the Mariners' Church. The People's Park at weekends has a market. There is the Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre, and Killiney Hill. All are great and fantastic amenities. Then there are the businesses that anchor the town. There is the Royal Marine Hotel, which has stood over the harbour since 1828. Teddy's ice-cream is known to generations of Dubliners. The Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel overlooks Dublin Bay. Our wonderful pubs, restaurants and cafés, with their fantastic employees, make every visit to Dún Laoghaire very special. What do the businesses need from the Government? There are three things, in my view. The first is support without over-regulation. There are small businesses but every new form, levy and inspection regime lands on the same kitchen table. Yes to sensible regulation but no to micro-regulation. The second is the night-time economy. The night-time economy task force reported back in 2021. Towns like Dún Laoghaire would benefit directly. A visitor who stays overnight spends twice as much. I ask the Minister and his officials to set out a clear timeframe for implementing those reforms in full, including the modernisation of our licensing laws. That straddles not only the Minister's Department but the Department of justice as well. As for the third, in budget 2026 the Government listened to the tourism sector. In the most recent budget the reduction in hospitality VAT to 9%, which the Minister referred to, was a significant, welcome and necessary intervention. That support must now be matched with practical measures in budget 2027, including targeted help with energy, employer and insurance costs, and marketing investment through Tourism Ireland on an all-island basis to win back European visitors. I mention Tourism Ireland and investing on an all-island basis as I am the Chair of the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. The investment by the shared island fund in the likes of the Ulster Canal and the Narrow Water bridge project is going to bring huge investment and opportunities to that whole region, which is very welcome. However, at times the local councils' tourism strategies jar or do not necessarily link in with the overall national picture. I am sure this is a frustration to the Minister as well as to local officials. It is important that we try to link in as much as possible on a regional basis the benefit of those local tourism strategies. I ask that we keep backing the tourism sector, implement the night-time economy reforms, hold the line against unnecessary red tape and deliver practical supports for tourism businesses in budget 2027.

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