Mattie McGrath calls for 9% VAT to rescue tourism sector

Hoareghout, Thaoiseach and my colleagues, we're first of all, I'm going to move on to the next trabaje so I can speak that's all right and now we're going to sign a do, we're going to join us tonight in our office for putting this motion together but tourism is a vibrant dynamic sector plays a vital role in Ireland's economy as it's been stated is the lifebook of many rural communities providing employment economic activity and other industries may be absent. I also want to thank Adrian Cummins and his team for giving us a very up-to-date, as of yesterday, briefing of the perilous situation that many of the restaurants are facing and food outlets. However, recent changes in government policy and global events have put this vital industry under unprecedented strain. In 2011 to 2018, and again from 2020 to 2023, the hospitality and tourism sector enjoyed a reduced 9% of that rate. However, in September 2023, the government restored that rate to 13.5%. The decision has had significant impact on the sector, particularly food-related businesses, which have seen in some instances more than double in the first three months of the year. Minister, how much more clear evidence do you want? Talk to the revenue, they'll tell you, and they're not being very lenient or flexible people either. The hospitality sector is broad, encompassing businesses like hotels, bars, pubs, canteens, hairdressers, barbers, catering operators, hostels, bed and breakfasts, caravan parks, self-catering accommodation and guest houses. And what we all enjoy now are many places, scenic views in the V between Tipperine and Waterford, people who come along now with mobile cafe units. Very high standard and serving people in those remote areas and many towns that sprung up as well. Before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, hospitality and tourism, one of Ireland's largest Indigenous sectors, generated over £9 billion for the economy and employed an estimated 284,000 workers across 16 tourism-related businesses. And that wasn't a small chicken field. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and enforced lockdowns have severely impacted the entire sector. As of the quarter three of 2022, the latest data showed a total of 246,000 people employed in the tourism sector and 170,000 in the hospitality and food services sector. The hospitality and tourism sector significantly contributes to the state's finances, both directly through employment and indirectly through income tax and VAT. And you fail to see that in the figure that's penned out this morning by your minister and your senior minister also about the cost of this request that we have here today. It's a timely request and it's a begging belt, as Deputy Healy Ray and others have said. It's begging because these people are clinging on with their fingertips. Including Denmark, Ireland's VAT rate of 13.5% for the tourism and hospitality sector is the highest in Europe. How come that, minister? Why do we have to do the highest or almost highest in everything? Whether it's to be fuel charges, whether it's to be transport costs, no matter what we have. And your government then, and your leader, incumbent leader, who's now to retire and we're wishing well, of course, in the path of our group, piled on the carbon tax on top of people as well. The government's reliance on the accommodation sector to provide temporary accommodation for Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers has significantly reduced the availability of tourist accommodation and increased prices. And that's evident. And with the last two years, you're blindly, blindfolded, taking over accommodation sectors. I stay in the wonderful, some of my colleagues in the wonderful Martello, you visited there one time with me, a minister, in Bray. After clearing interest, they're cousins of mine own it. But they're the only hotel now left in Bray. All the others have gone to asylum and refugee centres. A person and junior infants would know that's going to have a massive impact on football and spin, and it has. And we were there last night, I couldn't believe it. The place was like some place out in the middle of the countryside of a wet Tuesday night, and last night it wasn't wet. I couldn't believe it, the lack of football. And it's obvious that the damage has been done there, and you continue to do it. At this point in time, we're taking over a hotel in Clannmel for an asylum centre. And Helms Hotel, a famous hotel for Charles Baird and Coney, set up his transport network there back hundreds of years ago. And we can't learn from the past that our mistakes, we're actually going down cool-de-sacs. As I said, the accommodation charges, particularly outside Dublin, that really affects other tourism related activity providers, and resulted in an expected one billion loss in revenue last year. One billion. So you're talking about 700 million, I said, that it might cost for this, but at least we've saved them. And in closed business, a business that you know doing that is of no use to anybody. A place that's closed is just becoming derelict and lowers the activity in the whole of the town or village. The government must promptly reduce the fat rate for the entire tourism and hospitality sector to 9%, considering the imminent summer tourism season and the sector's financial strains. And the Reverend Minister, we cannot wait for the budget, whether you bring it in October or bring it forward early, for electoral purposes, as all you seem to think to worry about. They cannot wait. Week by week, dozens of businesses are closing. Week by week. You know that. Small business is the backbone of the economy. As I said, furthermore, the governments should consider sharing fat rates across the country in the hospitality and tourism sector to promote a regional balance and including the introduction of a new, radically reduced 5% fat rate for areas outside Dublin. This would create a distinction between the fat applied in rural areas and the capital, ensuring that rural areas are subject to a fat rate no greater than 5%. I've heard the excuse you can't do it. I've heard some of our parties here, and the left mainly, who are supporting the motion but clearing and sunday regarding looking for this. How come seven EU countries can do it and we can't do it? What the hell is wrong with the Irish government? We're told all the time we can't do it. Europe won't allow us. Seven of our European countries have the dual rates and different rates, so why can't we have it? You're not cutting the people anymore because people know well you can change it if you want to change it, as the seven countries have. As I said, the data we got yesterday was excellent data, very stark data actually, from the Ariston's Association of Ireland and Adrian Cummins. It's an increased cost case study in 2024, very up-to-date, and these people implied 22 staff with turnover of one million, turnover of one million. So here you are, this is what you've done to the Minister, you've done to them. The 35.5% VAT rate added a 37,000 increase, 37,000 of an increase to that business of one million, implying 22 staff. Wage inflation of 36,000 to those 22 staff, again 22 staff and one million turnover. So prior cost increases of 13,500, thankfully to you mostly, for the increases in VAT and extra duties, and putting on the rebates you took off again. Auto-enrolment is another nice fancy thing that you and the NGOs brought to you and penalised, and most of us in this group here are self-implied, and we declared that, and we're good relating to our workers. Auto-enrolment is going to add 5,000 to each of those one million business implying 22 people. You see, if I'm going, I hope you do, Minister, this. Overheads, 3,500, thanks to you, will cost all the raising costs again. And sick pay, 2,000 added on again. So these are all lovely and dandy, and they're all out of fanfare by the government, but they have a massive impact on the self-implied people, who are the workers, movers and shakers, and drive this country, and drive this country's economy, and give employment, and from Carrick and Shure, right up to Kilchiland, to Clonmel, and on to Cair, and out in Clareham, the wonderful pub in Clareham, and the final full round, and indeed right up to Castle, a famed Rockford Castle, up into West Tipperary, and across Tipperary, and all those small businesses, begging for help. This is a staffed reality of what your government have done to these people, the respect you show them. You'll go around, and the Minister did offer, Neil Richmond, in fairness, to go to every community to meet people this morning. He'll be busy, but if he doesn't go soon, he won't meet many, because they'll be imaha, doonta, finita, gone. And the work, and the people, self-implied person who has a dream, they might be implied in a job, a dream to set up a business, to look after himself and his family, or herself and her family, and look after the neighbourhood, and employ people, and expand and employ more people, and give jobs. And the vast majority of them don't have threats like the workers have had a religious today about big strikes. They work together, collaboratively, and indeed helping each other. But these stock figures are saying that you have little respect, and I'm missing revenue as well. They're not giving much latitude to many of the businesses that are struggling at the moment. You have some of the schemes that I hear this morning on my radio, of the government, Senator, looking for this, clamouring for this, short trialling, because he knows it won't be done to the budget. They can't wait to the budget. The budget is too late for so many of these businesses. They just cannot wait, and will not wait. And they'd love to wait, but they can't. They've got savings expended. Their mental health and physical health are suffering trying to manage with limited staff, and they're getting very much cooperation from their staff, who support them, who understand their struggles. The naturally call the caela is the old Irish proverb. So I'm asking you to think of the natural colour of caela and look after the businesses, because they, in turn, will pour in a billion into your coffers. So it's short-sighted to say it costs so much at this point in time. This has worked in the past. It has worked, as I said, back in 11 to 18, it has worked again after the pandemic. The low rate of that has worked, and it has paid dividends. Okay, some rogue people in big business didn't pass it on, maybe, but they can be weeded out. We know who they are. But the ordinary people, the ordinary spirit of the gay, like G.J. Kickham, the spirit of the village, must prevail in this country, or you're going to extinguish that spirit. You're going to extinguish those small businesses, and then we'll be a far poorer place, because the Digitals and the Googles and all the big data centres, they're not interested in the small rural communities. They're not interested in rural Ireland and the fabric of rural Ireland. Our culture, our heritage, our dukes, they're not. I pray and beg you to do something this bad. Thank you. Thank you very much, Deputy McGrath. Now, the motion regarding hospitality and tourism sector. The question is that the motion be agreed to. Is the motion agreed? The government are doing this for 18 months. It's political. They're not accepting the motion. The motion is agreed. No, it's not agreed, because they're accepting the motion. It's not agreed. We'll have to force the vote. It's just a slip-drop way of giving the backpinchers up. Sorry, the choice is either to agree the motion or not to agree the motion. Well, we'd love to agree the motion, but it's a slip-drop effort by the government to allow their own backpinchers to go around to all the hotels and say, oh, we support you, we support you. I'm sorry now, but we can't go into the... No, but that's the reason we're not supporting you. No, we're not here. Okay. Well, we're not accepting it, because we have to call Neil, because we're not accepting it. We're voting against our own motion, which is ridiculous, but it's exposing the government. So the motion is carried? No, more baloney by the government. The motion is carried. Three, three, three, three, three. No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. There is no motion in the country. No, no, no, no. No, no. No. No, no, no. No, no. No, no, no. It's on the contrary.