Godfrey's Gospel: We will all end up paying tourist tax, not just Dublin

I HAD to laugh to myself last week when I read that the notion of a tourism tax for people visiting the capital had not been put to bed. Where there is smoke, there will be fire and, as sure as night follows day, when any government sees the chance of extra revenue, they will grab it with both hands.

Remember the health levy – of course you don’t, but once upon a time, back in 1979 to be precise, that was introduced as an extra tax to ensure that everyone, irrespective of age, paid the same if they wanted to take out private health insurance. It didn’t matter that at that time less than one-third of the population had private insurance. The reason the rest of the population didn’t have it was not because they didn’t want to – they simply could not afford it.

Do you remember the income levy? No, you don’t, and you certainly don’t remember why it was introduced either. Don’t worry: neither exist anymore. Not since 2011, but they have been replaced by another one – the Universal Social Charge – which was sold to us as a way of paying off some of the debt the country was running up bailing out the banks and so on.

I think I read somewhere that all that money has been repaid and the economy is booming again – but, funnily enough, there is no talk of the USC being scrapped.

Oh, I also forgot to mention the introduction of the property tax back in 2013. This is really the reintroduction of domestic rates, which was scrapped by Fianna Fáil in 1977 in a bid to regain power, which they did. But then they discovered they were on the hook for funds that local authorities all over the country needed to keep the lights and other services on.

At the moment, the talk is about a tourism tax to fund the redevelopment of Dublin. They don’t put it like that; they use words like ‘world-class tourism attractions’ and so on, but in reality what they really mean is money to cover the cost of putting more gardaí on the streets to protect people from being mugged, getting rid of dereliction, cleaning the streets and a few other things.

Things which we are already paying for with the taxes collected each week. What worries me is the definition of who is a tourist when visiting Dublin and how in God’s name that is going to be policed. The ideal scenario would be to put an additional tax on drink, accommodation and food, but that would mean that everyone going into the capital would be subject to this extra tax.

Already, hotels are becoming a no-no. It is next to impossible to justify paying €250 or more for one night’s B&B in a city centre hotel. Last week, I paid €15 for a glass of wine there and was told by the barman when he saw the eyes nearly falling out of my head that the price of a pint is now €12. No wonder the place was half-empty – and that was a Friday evening at 6.30pm, when you would expect such a premises to be hopping.

I then asked said barman to calculate the cost of five white wines, three espresso coffees, two sparkling waters and a packet of crisps – cost: €93. I was very specific because I wanted to compare the price with what I had paid in Alvor, Portugal in May. The price there: €19.90.

No wonder there is a reduction in the numbers visiting this country this year. Can you just imagine what will happen if the tourist, already being scalped at every turn, finds out there is a tourism tax to be added to these already-inflated prices?

Don’t think this tax will be confined to Dublin. At the moment, the government is being told this tax could generate as much as €41 million in extra revenue to fund ‘significant’ projects in the capital, so you can be sure that as soon as our illustrious leaders smell extra money coming in, that scheme will be extended to the rest of the country.

Let’s be honest: spotting a tourist in Carlow town or county during the summer is a bit like looking for hens’ teeth – they’re not there. That is not to say various organisations locally are not trying their best, because they are, but on a national scale people drive through the county to either Kilkenny or Waterford or straight across the country to Connemara or Kerry, the Atlantic Way, Cliffs of Moher or wherever.

They may not even know about Europe’s largest burial rock, the dolmen, Carlow castle, once the treasury for all of Ireland, or Duckett’s Grove, not to mention Balyloughan, Ballymoon and Clonmore castles. And don’t forget Huntington Castle, voted one of Ireland’s top 20 hidden gems by The Guardian newspaper.

If all this talk about a tourist tax becomes more than just that, we will all end up paying the price – and not just the overseas visitor.