Budget 2017: ‘Tourism industry itself must respond to Brexit’

The Government has no additional initiatives to protect the lucrative tourism sector from Brexit.

In fact there is not a single new measure for transport, tourism or sport in Budget 2017 and Minister Shane Ross will have to wait until next year to see if new projects will get the go-ahead.

Mr Ross admitted that while his overall budget will rise, there are no new measures provided for beyond the delivery of existing commitments.

But he denied he had been distracted by Independent Alliance budget negotiations, and as a result had neglected to get the most for his own department.

Mr Ross said: “A lot of the big ticket items are going into the mid-term review. We have got an increase in our budget which is €72m but a lot of that is going to be used for projects which are already in train and will be completed, like the Luas cross-city.”

He added he was expecting a “very large chunk” to be allocated to his department during the mid-term review next year.

Public transport will receive a subvention increase of €31m next year, while capital funding for the regional local roads programme will increase by 10% to €275m.

An extra €1m will be ring-fenced primarily for overseas marketing efforts in the context of Brexit. The 9% Vat rate will also be retained.

But junior minister Patrick O’Donovan said there are no extra supports or initiatives to help shield the tourism sector from any negative Brexit impacts.

He added it is up to the sector itself to ensure it is able to cope with Brexit and said “the industry itself has to respond to this, it’s not just a one-way street” and Government cannot just “dish out money”.

He said the situation would be “kept under observation” and may have to “revisit” funding for the sector if Brexit causes a fall in tourist numbers.

Mr O’Donovan said: “This is an evolving situation, the whole Brexit situation is an evolving situation. We would all love to have more, there are competing demands, it’s a competitive environment.

“Brexit is one element of it and tourism is probably most susceptible to Brexit so this is an issue that we are going to have to keep under observation for the next couple of months and we may have to look at it again.”