The Minister for Tourism has reacted unenthusiastically to a proposal to charge tourists £1 each to visit the Aran Islands.
Dr McDaid said yesterday that any such ideas "concerning travel from one part of Ireland to another" should have their implications carefully discussed and considered by all parties affected.
Noting that the levy had been proposed as a means of funding a recycling initiative, he drew attention to his own Department's Tourism Environmental Pilot Initiative designed to generate practical ideas to encourage environmental awareness.
Funding for some projects proposed under this scheme would be announced in the autumn, he said.
The idea of the £1 levy was contained in a report by the MCOS group of Irish and Danish consultants on a waste management strategy for Galway County Council and Corporation. The report was presented to Galway councillors on Monday.
Ireland West Tourism estimates that some 100,000 people visit the Aran Islands each year. The proposed levy could therefore raise £100,000 per year.
Meanwhile, the Killarney of the Welcomes organisation has rejected the various proposals for taxes and levies on tourists that have emerged in recent weeks. "Ireland is already perceived as a relatively expensive destination," the organisation's executive director, Mr Jerry O'Grady, said yesterday. "At a time of fierce international competition for visitors our energies should be directed at correcting this image, not confirming it."
It has emerged in recent weeks that Dublin Corporation is considering a tax of £3 per night on hotel guests. The Department of Tourism itself is also considering a one-off £3 charge on tourists visiting the State.