Dublin considers introducing tourism tax

Daily Mail​

14 hours ago

Dublin is considering introducing a tourism tax that could bring in 'significant' funding.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Michael Martin, the head of the Irish government, said he was backing the proposal made by the Dublin City Taskforce, which said last year that the city has become 'less welcoming' since the financial crash.
'It could provide additional revenue raising powers, so that will be examined. Because, let's be honest, there's going to be significant investment here', the Taoiseach said.
He added that the actual amount of money expected to be brought in varied widely, depending on the rate applied if the tourism tax comes to pass.
'It will be examined in more detail. Estimates varies between depending on rate of fee applied, it would range from four million to 41 million.'
But Martin claimed that no matter what rate the city lands on, 'there's going to be significant additional expenditure to make the city more attractive.'
Dublin is already considered one of the most expensive cities in Europe for eating and drinking, and there are fears that the proposed tax will further burden tourists visiting the already expensive city.
Simon Harris, the deputy leader of the Irish government, said that the plans were far from set in stone, and that Dublin City Council will have a significant role to play in deciding whether to implement it.
He said: 'Fundamentally, I believe, massively in local government, empowering councillors and providing revenue streams, there needs to be a sensitivity around the timing.'
Cities across Europe are beginning to place daily taxes on visitors. Rates vary from just a few cents per day to up to €7 per day in places like Rome.
In the UK, Manchester is the first and currently only British city to charge a tourist levy, requiring visitors to pay £1 per day in hotels or rented flats in the centre of the city.
However, from July 2026 Edinburgh is set to apply a 5% fee to the cost of overnight accommodation, capping the levy at five nights in a row.
Harris said that on top of the possible tourism levy, the government had added more than 1,000 police officers to the centre of Dublin in response to 'increased concerns about safety.'
The announcement of the tourism tax comes just a month after one of Dublin's most famous watering holes was slammed for selling ludicrously expensive drinks.
A photograph of a receipt shared to social media revealed that one patron of the world famous Temple Bar had paid an eye-watering €15.40 (12.99) for just one pint of Guinness and a shot of Baby Guinness.
The Irish pub, which is located in Dublin's city centre and highly popular among tourists, is renowned for it's premium prices, with customers having long lamented the cost of it's drinks.
The expensive tab was shared to X from an account called @PintsO_Guinness, which shares posts relating to Ireland's iconic stout. The account's description reads: 'Capturing the perfect pints & sharing the magic.'
It revealed that the unknown customer had visited on 29 May at 9:46pm and paid a whopping €10.45 (8.82) for one pint of Guinness, and €4.95 (£4.18) for 'mixer/ baby', believed to be a Baby Guinness.
Captioning the post, the Guinness fan page simply wrote 'Christ'.
The post has since gone viral, gathering nearly 50,000 views and dozens of commenters from frustrated boozers complaining about the extortionate price tags.
Writing on X, one said '£8.50 for a pint, ouch', while multiple called out the venue for creating 'outrageous' prices.
One Dublin local described the prices as 'bare faced robbery' and griped that the venue was often 'absolutely rammed'.
They wrote: 'I live five minute walk away from Temple Bar, born and reared in the area and in my 40 years of being of drinking age I can count on one hand how many times I've had a session in Temple Bar, you just can't do it, it's bare face robbery and it's going on years too.
'Also the place is absolutely rammed full of tourists so much so they have to drink out on the streets as the pubs are so full.'