Limerick TD Patrick O’Donovan has welcomed a report from the Restaurants Association of Ireland which shows over 21,000 new jobs have been created in the hospitality sector since the Government reduced the VAT rate on the sector in 2011.
Patrick O’Donovan, who is a member of the Oireachtas Transport and Tourism Committee, said that the decision by Michael Noonan to reduce VAT from 13.5% to 9% together with his decision to reduce the travel tax to 0 are having a very positive impact on the hospitality industry. “I have spoken to Limerick business people in the hospitality sector over the last few months and they all agree that the decision to reduce VAT has been the most positive thing to happen the industry since the economic collapse.”
Deputy O’Donovan said that the decision to reduce VAT to 9% was done as parts of the Jobs Initiative in 2011 and was opposed at the time by Fianna Fail, Sinn Fein and the Independents. “Their decision to oppose this measure was done to tick a blatant politically negative box, and since then even after seeing the success of the measure they have refused to admit that they were wrong, something which people need to bear in mind as they consider who is best to run the economy as we enter recovery.”
“There is no doubt but that these measures are working, and here in the Mid West they have been further strengthened by the Government’s decision to grand Independence to Shannon Airport. This was again something which the last Government neglected to do and were grudging in their support when the decision was made to separate Shannon from Dublin. Michael Noonan in his budgets has been unapologetic in his support for the Tourism sector and these job figures prove that he was correct. While some people might choose to ignore the numbers, the reality is that this sector of the economy is benefitting from Government action and it is vital that the positive approach of Government to the sector continues in this budget.”