The Chair of Clare’s Tourism Advisory Forum has criticised a report on the tourism and hospitality sector, saying it’s not an acurate refelction of what’s happening on the ground.
The report from the Oireachtas Tourism Committee makes a number of recommendations aimed at supporting the industry and its workers.
The Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media has this week published its report on working conditions and skills shortages in Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector.
It says there’s a “growing body of evidence” that workers face real obstacles to a decent working life.
The sector itself is faced with acute staff shortages, with employers in need of a wide array of skills that they can’t attract from the domestic population.
The report also highlights issues such as difficulties getting wages, precarious employment and harmful workplace behaviour.
There are eleven recommendations, including the establishment of a body with similar functions to Fáilte Ireland for pubs and restaurants.
It also calls for the Minister for Tourism to engage with stakeholders “as a matter of urgency” to seek a workable solution to legal issues that have shut down Joint Labour Committees on tourism and hospitality.
A North Clare hotelier believes that while the report makes for uncomfortable reading, the findings are not surprising.
Michael Vaughan from Vaughan’s Lodge in Lahinch says a number of businesses still have questions to answer about work-life balance for their employees.
The Chair of Clare’s Tourism Advisory Forum says he doesn’t don’t feel the findings are an accurate reflection of where the hospitality industry is at the moment, however.
Sean Lally admits the industry suffered huge shortages of skilled workers during the pandemic due to rolling closures.
But the Ennis Hotelier, says anything that places a focus on attracting staff into the industry is welcome and he’s reiterating a previous call for the VISA process to be sped up.
