Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 September 2025
418. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if his Department will provide figures for the approximate total number of hotel or tourism accommodation beds in the State, by type of accommodation and by county; if any assessment has been done as to the optimal total number of tourism beds required; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48369/25]
View answerThis Government recognises the central importance of the tourism sector to Ireland's economy and communities and is acutely aware of the importance of local tourism accommodation as a resource for businesses and communities throughout Ireland.
The overall position regarding the available data on accommodation for tourism purposes is complex and multi-layered. Fáilte Ireland maintains tourist accommodation registers as provided for under the Tourist Traffic Acts and under the Acts and it is a legal requirement that any premises using a prescribed term such as ‘Hotel’ or ‘Guest House’ must be registered and meet the criteria set out in the relevant regulation.
Fáilte Ireland, through the National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF), is responsible for assessing and approving tourism accommodation providers to ensure they meet these criteria as defined. Each premises undergoes an assessment at the application stage, followed by an annual renewal assessment.
In terms of ensuring adequate capacity and future supply, Fáilte Ireland has developed a capacity and pipeline monitor to track movement in tourism accommodation capacity. This includes changes in current capacity and the tracking of the pipeline of tourist accommodation in Ireland focusing on planning, construction commencement and opening phases of development. This monitor allows Fáilte Ireland to better pinpoint challenges that exist in terms of the development of tourism accommodation and to measure the impact arising.
In addition, the statutory register of all Short-Term Letting (STL) accommodation in the State will, when implemented by Fáilte Ireland in May 2026, provide a full picture of the stock of tourist accommodation.
Reliable and complete data in this area is vital for best informing the Governments tourism accommodation policies and strategy. Scoping of all available data and any data gaps arising is being actively pursued by the relevant officials in my Department. A more complete overview, based on hard data, will enhance Fáilte Ireland’s ability to promote wider tourism investment.
The combined insights gleaned from the accommodation capacity and pipeline monitor; the existing tourism accommodation registers; and the STL register will help shape and inform Ireland’s long term accommodation development plans to meet changing consumer demands and trends.
The available data for 2025, requested by the Deputy, can be found in the following table prepared by Fáilte Ireland.
The following tables detail the number of tourism accommodation bedspaces by County and by accommodation type. The figures represent the stock of tourism accommodation in Ireland as of Q1 2025, which has been derived from Fáilte Ireland's National Quality Assurance Framework (NQAF) data. It is worth noting that as of Q1 2025 there are 11,500 tourism accommodation bedspaces under construction, with Dublin dominating activity, accounting for 86% of all bedspaces under construction.
|
NQAF Bedspaces |
|
NQAF Master Category |
|
|
|
County |
Q1 2025 |
|
Q1 2025 |
|
|
Carlow |
1,737 |
Hostel |
5,077 |
|
|
Cavan |
2,644 |
Hotel |
160,277 |
|
|
Clare |
9,549 |
Outdoor |
29,578 |
|
|
Cork |
20,182 |
Holiday Let |
17,742 |
|
|
Donegal |
11,208 |
Serviced Accommodation |
14,653 |
|
|
Dublin |
64,878 |
|
|
|
|
Galway |
17,080 |
Total |
227,327 |
|
|
Kerry |
22,843 |
|
|
|
|
Kildare |
4,097 |
|
|
|
|
Kilkenny |
4,133 |
|
|
|
|
Laois |
1,631 |
|
|
|
|
Leitrim |
2,466 |
|
|
|
|
Limerick |
6,171 |
|
|
|
|
Longford |
2,923 |
|
|
|
|
Louth |
2,848 |
|
|
|
|
Mayo |
9,934 |
|
|
|
|
Meath |
4,612 |
|
|
|
|
Monaghan |
982 |
|
|
|
|
Offaly |
1,378 |
|
|
|
|
Roscommon |
1,438 |
|
|
|
|
Sligo |
4,800 |
|
|
|
|
Tipperary |
3,973 |
|
|
|
|
Waterford |
7,762 |
|
|
|
|
Westmeath |
3,255 |
|
|
|
|
Wexford |
7,466 |
|
|
|
|
Wicklow |
7,337 |
|
|
|
|
Total |
227,327 |
|
|
|
