Mr. Pádraig Óg Gallagher:

I thank the committee for listening to us today. The 9% VAT rate is vitally important to us. It is a matter of survival. It is a mixed bag when discussing restaurants and how they are doing. I am also located in Dublin, in Temple Bar. I have been there for 25 years but this year is the most challenging year I have had to date. It has been extremely challenging. The weather affects it a little, but the British tourist still has not returned to Ireland. We reduced our prices and we are very competitive. There is a great deal of competition among restaurants and this winter will be quite tough for many restaurants throughout the country. If VAT is increased from 9% it means that for every €10,000 worth of food I sell per week, it will cost an extra €450 in VAT. That is one job. It is either one or the other; it cannot be both.

Our industry is a front-line industry and is very labour intensive. As has correctly been said, it is all about services. Deputy Tóibín referred earlier to Navan in County Meath where the restaurants were the first to fall. Yes, we are on the front line. We must react. We cannot sit back. We have nobody to back us. We do not have banking behind us. We have nothing behind us, just the people who come in the door and making sure they come back.