Taylor Swift fan and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe has urged hotels in Dublin to do “the right thing” and not charge extortionate prices. 

The US music star will be performing in the Aviva next year and the Minister said he was thrilled to hear she is coming back to Ireland. 

“I saw Taylor Swift perform the last time she was here in Ireland,” he told Newstalk. 

“I’ve a pretty good idea about the level of joy and happiness her return to Ireland is going to cause for lots of people who are looking forward to seeing her come back. 

“At a time in which we may have missed out on Beyoncé and her tour, it’s great to see we’re going to get Taylor Swift. 

“I’ve also seen the effect that Beyoncé had on inflation levels in other economies and actually, I take pretty seriously the need for the hospitality sector to do the right thing by lots of excited fans that are coming to see Taylor Swift play in Ireland.” 

MT2J08 Taylor Swift performs at the BBC Biggest Weekend held at Singleton Park in Swansea on Sunday 27th May 2018

Following confirmation of Swift’s concert dates, a number of hotels put their prices up. 

Minister Donohoe has previously raised concerns about the sector and said he hoped there would be no repeat of the huge prices seen last summer. 

“I’ve not held back in the past [about] behaviour that I’ve seen in the hospitality sector at a time in which we were trying to get the sector back on its own two feet again,” he said. 

“I think the biggest losers, if we see those few nights as an opportunity to make more money… in the long run from all of that will be the hotels.”

Taylor Swift has previously visited Ireland in her spare time and her time in Dublin is thought to have inspired her song 'Sweet Nothing'.

In a statement to Newstalk, the Irish Hotels' Federation said:

"The vast majority of Irish hotels do not make rooms available online any earlier than one year out.

"This means that there is currently almost no hotel availability through online booking engines given that the dates for the concerts are over a year away.

"For many hotels, even shorter lead in times apply for listing rooms through online booking engines.

"This means that people looking to book at this stage should consider contacting hotels directly either through their own websites or by phone to enquire about rates and get the best value."

Main image: Paschal Donohoe and Taylor Swift