Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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13. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she can outline any plans, including any additional funding, that will be made available to Drogheda to ensure the survival of the tourism industry in the area given the loss of tourist accommodation in the town in recent years. [24352/24]

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister if she can outline any plans, including any additional funding, that will be made available specifically to Drogheda to ensure the survival of the tourism industry in the area, given the loss of tourist accommodation in the town in recent years.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The importance of the tourism sector to the Irish economy and our communities is well understood. Drogheda is a key part of the ancient destination experience development plan, which is the Fáilte Ireland roadmap for the development of tourism in Louth and Meath, including the Boyne Valley and environs. In budget 2024, I secured total funding of €216 million for the tourism sector, which allows for the continued support of tourism development in Ireland for local and overseas visitors. Of this allocation, up to €10 million is available for a specific programme of supports targeted at tourism businesses experiencing particular challenges linked to the reduction in footfall in regions most impacted by tourism bed-stock displacement.

Fáilte Ireland has carried out a number of accommodation audits to establish a baseline for existing tourism accommodation capacity for local authorities in each destination and region. Additional capacity supply growth projections have been identified for all counties based on best estimates of demand recovery to 2030, the current gaps in the market by location and type, and changing consumer preferences for accommodation categories.

The tourism importance of Drogheda is recognised by the significant funding that Fáilte Ireland has allocated to the town under its urban animation scheme in order to further enliven landmark buildings and structures in Drogheda's historic landscape. The collaboration between Fáilte Ireland and Louth County Council on the potential development of an attraction of scale focused on the Boyne is also welcome. In tandem with the work of Fáilte Ireland, my Department is progressing the development of a new national tourism policy framework that will seek to mainstream environmental, economic and societal sustainability across the entire tourism sector. The new framework will shape how our tourism industry develops in the period to 2030. Issues around tourism accommodation stock will be considered as part of the new policy framework and subsequent action plan.

The range of challenges experienced by Drogheda due to displacement of tourism accommodation serve as an exemplar of similar challenges across the country that must be addressed. It is clear that a collective and concerted multi-stakeholder approach to tackling these challenges is required, and that is the approach that Government will continue to pursue for Drogheda and the rest of the country.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister referred to the €10 million support scheme that is open. That is a mere drop in the ocean compared with what is actually needed. That is for the entire country. The Minister is aware that Drogheda has lost its largest hotel, the D Hotel, and that is the second hotel it has lost. I hope she is aware that the number of bedrooms available for tourist accommodation in the town has been reduced by 61% since 2022. There is a total capacity of just 91 beds in the largest town in Ireland. When we talk about tourism and tourism plans, a town stripped of its tourist accommodation is on the wrong footing from the start. The economic impact assessment commissioned by Love Drogheda BID has shown a direct loss of over €6 million and an indirect impact of over €15 million on the local economy. What plans does the Minister have to remedy this specifically? What funding will be made specifically available to Drogheda for this? Restaurant owners, shopkeepers, tourist attractions and other businesses are feeling the knock-on effect of the loss of accommodation in the town. The loss of accommodation is a direct result of Government policy.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I have already mentioned the importance of the tourism sector to the Irish economy and specifically to Drogheda. The Deputy mentioned the €10 million but in budget 2024, there is a total of €216 million in funding for the sector, which would allow for continued support for tourism development in Ireland for local and overseas visitors. Within that €216 million, we had the €10 million. That is available for a specific programme of supports targeted at tourism businesses experiencing particular challenges linked to the reduction of footfall in regions most impacted by tourism bed stock displacement.

I have met stakeholders such as the Irish Hotels Federation. I know that funding of €10 million is being developed and administered by Fáilte Ireland. We had Fáilte Ireland analysis as of November 2023, showing that 12% of all registered tourism accommodation stock nationally was under contract to the State. Fáilte Ireland is in the process of carrying out further analysis of the current data, which may inform future supports. Since 2022, approximately 300 accommodations which were in use by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman's, Department since the start of the Ukraine crisis are no longer being used. The types of accommodation in that cohort are diverse but include approximately 40 hotels and 90 other properties categorised as bed and breakfast accommodation, guesthouses and hostels. The end of use in these contracts occurred for a number of reasons, including in some cases provider-led contract termination. I hope many of those will return to tourism.

Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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If accommodation in Drogheda has reduced by 61% and we are left with only 91 tourist accommodation beds, that is a problem caused directly by Government policy. We need the Government to revitalise the town, attract investment and solve the accommodation issue that is crippling tourism in the town.

Love Drogheda BID had asked that the Government work with stakeholders in the town to fix this. It asked for the Government to establish a dedicated revitalisation task force for Drogheda that can help focus investment in the town. Will the Government form this task force? Will the Minister put every effort into sorting the crisis in tourism accommodation, which this Government actually created, for the largest town in Ireland?

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As I said, Fáilte Ireland is in the process of carrying out a further analysis of current data provided by the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman's, Department on all registered tourism accommodation stock. We have to see the full picture.

With regard to what the Deputy is specifically asking, it is something I can perhaps discuss with the Minister, Deputy Burke, as we co-chair that tourism and hospitality forum. It is also something I will bring to the attention of my officials and Fáilte Ireland.