Ms Angela Ruttledge:

I thank the committee for inviting me to the meeting. I wish to reiterate what my colleagues have said and especially to emphasise the point about the rise in food costs and in excise duty that has occurred over the last year or 18 months. The cost of beef and potatoes, which are basic staples in our industry, has increased by 15% to 20%. That should be seen in the context of how central the food and restaurant industry is to consumer confidence, not just in terms of tourist numbers but also for people living here wishing to enjoy themselves, and how obsessed we are as a country with food. The issue of the shortage of chefs has not been emphasised enough and actually makes us uncompetitive. When I started in this business it was difficult but we tried to cut wage and food costs wherever we could. However, it is impossible to do that with the chef shortages because obviously chefs can command much higher salaries. In view of all that, we ask the Government to retain the VAT rate at 9%.