Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 June 2026
290. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment to provide the total number of hotel beds currently being used for State-supported accommodation, including those allocated to IPAS and to persons under the temporary protection directive; and to provide a breakdown of these figures. [47566/26]
View answerThis Government recognises the central importance of tourism to Ireland’s economy and to the vitality of communities nationwide. A strong, sustainable and regionally balanced tourist accommodation base is essential to a competitive and resilient tourism sector. Accommodation underpins the visitor experience and perceptions of value for money, while strengthening the wider tourism ecosystem and supporting businesses of all sizes to grow.
To date, Government has made significant progress in returning tourist accommodation in use for humanitarian purposes back to the tourism sector. This is helping to increase overall tourism capacity and supports the recovery of affected destinations.
The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration manages a comprehensive accommodation strategy for people seeking international protection.
Through www.failteireland.ie/FailteIreland/media/WebsiteStructure/Documents/Research/Key%20Tourism%20Facts%20and%20Figures%202026/June-2026-Overview-of-Temporary-Protection-(BOTP)-International-Protection-(IP)-Contracted-Bed-Stock.pdf?ext=.pdf at 6 month intervals, the number of bedplaces under contract for humanitarian use (IP & BOTP) in Fáilte Ireland registered tourism properties has reduced from 29,555 (13% of total registered bedstock) in May 2023 to 9,110 (3.7% of total registered bedstock) in May 2026. No individual county is above 10% at this point with 20 counties at or below 5% of their total Fáilte Ireland registered tourist bedplaces. The breakdown of the percentages by county is available in the attached table extracted from the full report published on www.failteireland.ie. The next such analysis of tourist accommodation data will be available on that website in December.
‘Hotel’ is a prescribed term under the Tourist Traffic Acts and any accommodation provider using the term must apply for inclusion on the Register of Hotels administered by Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority under the Acts. Of the national published totals above, a subset are registered hotel bedplaces.
Accordingly, Fáilte Ireland has advised that of those totals above 24,516 bedplaces were recorded as registered hotel bedplaces in May 2023 and 7,107 bedplaces were recorded as registered hotel bedplaces in May 2026.
The expectation across government is that the number will continue to reduce over time, barring any further external shocks. To this end, www.gov.ie/en/department-of-justice-home-affairs-and-migration/press-releases/minister-for-justice-home-affairs-and-migration-jim-ocallaghan-and-minister-of-state-for-migration-colm-brophy-secure-government-approval-for-new-measures-in-relation-to-ukrainian-citizens-with-temporary-protection-status/ to a range of measures in relation to Ukrainian citizens with Temporary Protection status, including the phasing out of the contracting of State accommodation over the period August 2026 and March 2027.
