An Irish senator has blasted hotels in Dublin for "exorbitant" hotel prices on St Patrick's Day weekend that he said are creating a "very negative image" of Ireland and its tourism industry.
Clare Senator Timmy Dooley was speaking on Newstalk Breakfast after claims of price gouging in the run up to St Patrick's Day weekend in Dublin, with some hotels charging up to €2,400 for single rooms.
He said: "It sends a really negative signal to people coming to stay in Dublin."
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He stressed that on Friday night, one room in a 5 star hotel would cost €900-1200, a 4 star hotel €500-700, 3 star hotel €450-650, and guest houses offering a place with a room for up to €900.
"Now I doubt many people would pay that. I think the hotel federation are going to work much harder at encouraging their members not to sell the last six or seven rooms at exorbitant prices," he said.
Senator Dooley pointed to a significant difference between the Dublin market and that in the rest of the country, stressing that hotels in the capital have a much great "opportunity" to scale up their prices.
Presenter Shane Coleman said the recent Government decision to agree to the Hotel Federation's plea to keep the 9% VAT rate on hospitality can now be looked at in a slightly different light amid the spike in St Patrick's Day prices.
"There is the rest of the country. The hotels there would be under pressure and would need the VAT rate to be kept as it is. There needs to be some way of segmenting those areas that can generate a regular supply of tourists.
"It is disappointing that on our national day that this kind of image can be allowed to go abroad and ultimately damage what so many successful business people and government's have done to build a successful image of Ireland," the Fianna Fáil senator added.
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