An extra tax could be on the way for people who stay in Dublin hotels

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Hoteliers say a proposed tax for staying in Dublin hotels isn't fair to accommodation providers.

Dublin City Councillors are due to discuss the move next week.

It's thought a one percent tax for people staying in hotels in Dublin could raise 12 million euro a year.

Dublin City councillors who support the move say the money raised could go towards measures to reduce crime and 'clean up' O'Connell street.

But President of the Irish Hotels Federation, Denyse Campbell says an extra charge for hotel stays in Dublin wouldn't be fair.

"We're in the middle of a cost of living crisis so the focus should be on rebuilding the industry. It shouldn't be about adding more taxes that are going to be punitive. A bed tax, by it's very nature just targets accommodation providers and is fundamentally unfair."

General Manager of Buswells Hotel in Dublin city centre, Paul Gallagher, says it's not the first time such a charge has been debated:

"This comes around every few years, it's like a county councillor's boomerang inside in the chambers in Dublin."

They keep thinking a room tax is the answer to their problems - that a room tax would actually clean up O'Connell Street, it would remove all the rubbish, it would change the way people behave and remove anti-social behaviour."

Similar taxes on overnight stays are already in place in Major European cities, including Paris, Venice and Berlin.