A tourist tax for staying in Dublin is being considered by Dublin City Council in order to increase revenue.

This accommodation levy would be put on hotels and short-term lettings and is being opposed by those in the tourism industry.

So far, the tax doesn't have any sanction from Government.

On The Pat Kenny Show, the Irish Hotels Federation President Michael Magner said additional taxes are “not the way to go”.

“We are an open economy where we have international visitors coming into our country annually and we need those international visitors to come,” he said.

“It's completely the wrong message to our international visitors that you're coming to a country and, by the way, we're going to also tax you further.”

Mr Magner explained that the Irish hospitality and tourism industry is the largest indigenous industry in Ireland.

“It contributes over €10 billion annually to the exchequer,” he said.

“Additional taxes on visitors, international visitors or potentially domestic visitors, makes no sense whatsoever at a time whereby we're trying to make Ireland stand out as an attractive destination for visitors.

“It really is the wrong way to go and the industry, as a sector, would certainly not be supporting anything like that and that's critical.

“It is really important that we remain competitive, we ensure that we have a product that is world class, because we attract world class tourists from all over the world coming and visiting and staying in our hotels and our visitor attractions across the country.”

Student tourists in Dublin. Picture by: ITAS

Speaking about the recent rise of attacks in Dublin, Mr Magner said he has every confidence in the justice minister.

“I think our Minister for Justice made it very clear at the weekend that this [unfortunate issue] in Dublin is going to be tackled, and we have every confidence in the minister in doing their job,” he said.

“But I think areas where we need to see more action is in relation to unregistered accommodations in terms of the short term let area.

“It's important that we get that across the line to ensure that accommodation that's been provided to visitors coming to the country on a short-term basis is registered and they are on more of a level playing field to provide a better experience for our visitors coming to Ireland.”

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Tourists in Dublin wearing Irish Tricolour top hats in November 2018. Picture by: Sarah-Louise Burns / Alamy Stock Photo