Fáilte Ireland, the State tourism body, spent €60,000 on alcohol at two trade fairs and €351,000 on food, as part of a marketing drive to woo international visitors to Ireland.
The hefty bar and food bills were run up at the annual Meitheal event in Killarney, Co Kerry, which is a “face-to-face workshop” between hundreds of Irish tourism industry figures and buyers from 15 countries. Meitheal is the Irish language expression for working party.
Figures provided to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly show Fáilte Ireland spent €644,401 on Meitheal 2025 last April at the Gleneagle Arena in Killarney.
The event catered for 389 Irish tourism providers and 255 international buyers, with about 10,000 scheduled appointments and plentiful hospitality on the State’s tab.
Fáilte Ireland’s alcohol expenditure at the three-day event was €34,152, a daily average of €11,384. Food expenditure was €196,857 and €70,494 was spent on other drinks.
The figures, set out by Minister for Tourism Peter Burke in reply to a parliamentary question from Mr Farrelly, show the cost of hiring the venue was €342,898.
Fáilte Ireland spent €590,766 on Meitheal 2024 the previous year, including €26,219 on alcohol and €154,553 on food.
“I absolutely accept expenditure is required to drive the promotion and development of our tourism offerings but value for money has to be always a consideration when it comes to hosting large-scale events,” said Mr Farrelly, who is a member of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee, the public spending watchdog.
“CSO figures last year demonstrated a decline in some areas of our visitor numbers.”
Fáilte Ireland said its hospitality and gifts policy sets “strict standards” to ensure business event spending is appropriate, transparent and delivers value for money.
The body said its Meitheal offering “includes lunches, coffee breaks and dinners delivered . . . while the tourism businesses are on site” for the event.
“Food and beverage expenditure forms part of the hospitality offering provided to international buyers and industry partners, and menus highlight Irish produce and suppliers.”
All told, in 2025 and 2024, Fáilte Ireland spent €94,012 on alcohol at seven events that each had more than 100 people attending. The food bill was €454,284 at eight events, one of which was alcohol-free.
In addition to Meitheal, these included the Conference Ambassador awards, the Employer Excellence awards, the Employer Excellence Exchange conference and the Ireland Golf convention.
Mr Burke said the golf event facilitates 1,500 meetings with international tour operators to attract golf visitors “who typically spend three times more than average tourists”.
Alcohol expenditure at the 2025 Ireland Golf convention was €5,544, with €20,640 spent on food. The 2024 alcohol bill was €4,648 and the food bill was €14,840.
The Conference Ambassador programme “supports individuals who bid for and host international conferences”. The 2025 food bill was €18,875 and the alcohol bill was €9,204.
According to the Minister’s parliamentary reply, the Employer Excellence awards “celebrate businesses who have demonstrated their commitment to making the tourism industry an appealing and rewarding place to work”. The 2025 food bill was €15,395 and the alcohol bill was €5,125.
The Employer Excellence Exchange conference aims to “help tourism businesses share best practice and learn from each other as well as leading experts on key workforce challenges and trends”. The 2025 food bill was €5,996. There was no alcohol.