Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for his reply.

The Taoiseach said he fully accepted the sector is struggling. Unfortunately, VAT is the problem here. The Government does not seem to understand that since the VAT rate went up, restaurants and cafés all over the country are shutting down. Door after door is banging shut. The Taoiseach does not grasp the crisis here. On his election as Taoiseach last week, I listened carefully to him to see if he was going to be different or more of what we have had before. Lowering the VAT rate is where he could have shone but he did not. Other than promises, we got nothing, which means more of the same.

How many cosy cafés, neighbourhood restaurants and pubs will close before the penny drops? How will our towns and villages look with more shuttered premises? The Government has to lower the VAT rate now and not kick the can down the road to October. That will not do. The new group will protest about the VAT rate. I promise the Taoiseach that this is not just a west Cork protest but a national one. I will ask again. Will the Taoiseach lower the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9%? Will he announce that today? If not, I promise the Taoiseach that the Government will face wipeout in the upcoming elections. People are angry. They are shutting their doors.

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