A tourist tax in Dublin could help finance “major capital projects” the city needs, a Fine Gael TD has argued. 

Fingal County Council has written to local authorities as part of a push for legislation to allow councils to introduce the charge.

While Dublin City Council has previously estimated such a levy in the capital could bring in €12 million a year.

Arguing in favour of the proposal, Fine Gael TD and former Lord Mayor of Dublin James Geoghegan described it as a “really good thing”. 

“You don’t have to look very far to see where this is working,” he told Newstalk Breakfast.

“They introduced this very recently in Edinburgh, for example.

“They imposed a 5% levy for visitors that come into their city; 2% of that levy goes back to the hotels who collect the levy. 

“They generate around £50 million from their levy.” 

A tourist horse and buggy in Dublin. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Deputy Geoghegan said any cost would be minimal but would make a huge difference to the city’s finances. 

“What you’re really talking about is a couple of euro on your night stay to generate revenue that will go towards major capital projects in our city in terms of the Dublin City Task Force,” he said. 

However, the Irish Hotels Federation has argued that visitors to Ireland already pay enough, without adding a tourist tax.

CEO Paul Gallagher said tourists are an easy target for politicians. 

“At the moment, 29 cents in every euro that a visitor spends in Ireland in hospitality services or in taxis or whatever other consumption that they have is returned directly to the State,” he said. 

“So, they already pay a phenomenal amount of money when you consider half the population pay no or very marginal tax on their incomes. 

“The last point is, the tourist has no voice in this; we’re talking about a whole cohort of people who aren’t going to be voters. 

“Therefore, it’s pretty easy and convenient for politicians to come around to the idea.” 

An estimated 6.6 million tourists visited Ireland in 2024.

You can listen back to the full interview here:

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