Action, Not Words Needed to Save East Cork Tourism Jobs – Mulvihill

ACTION NOT WORDS NEEDED ON AIR TRAVEL TAX TO SAVE EAST CORK TOURISM JOBS

Labour Councillor John Mulvihill snr has said that reported remarks from Tourism Minister Mary Hanafin that she believes that the Air Travel Tax should be scrapped, and that she will try to persuade the Minister for Finance to do away with it, is a step in the right direction, but the tourism industry in East Cork  will be looking for action rather than words from her in this regard.

“Earlier this year, Labour published a policy document ‘Extending The Welcome’ – Labour’s Proposals to sustain and develop the Tourism Industry. Reducing or scrapping the air travel tax was among the proposals we put forward in our document.

Cllr Mulvihill continued “I welcome the fact that Mary Hanafin has come around to our way of thinking. The Minister’s remarks are also welcome in the light of last year’s report from the Tourism Renewal Group who also called for the tax to be ditched.

“However, the concerns she expressed this week  that scrapping the tax would leave us out of step with other EU Member States who may be considering introducing such a charge, are without foundation.

In conclusion Cllr mulvihill stated “The fact of the matter is that we are currently out of step with a number of countries, such as The Netherlands, who introduced such a tax, only to abandon it when it became clear that it was having a negative impact on the visitor numbers, on the airlines and on the public purse. It is clear that this is the lead that we should be following.”