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

I support this Bill and commend Sinn Féin on bringing it forward. It will make a great difference for all hospitality workers in Ireland. It will give them a legal right to their tips and all restaurants would be required to introduce a system which fairly distributes tips among staff. Up to now many felt that there was a wrong being done to workers in this sector. There is no doubt that the hospitality sector is a hard one in which to work and far too many workers are depending on tips to make a living. This sector is vulnerable to season peaks and dips, especially in my constituency of Cork South-West, making it difficult for both employees and employers in off-peak seasons. To this day I cannot understand how the Government raised the VAT rate on this sector in the previous budget. This year’s statistics are showing that the restaurant sector prices are up 5.2% on last year. Does the Government realise it is the pockets of not only the businesses but those of the consumers and employees it has hit?

My concern about the Bill is what will happen to the employees receiving these tips with regard to paying tax on them. As the law stands, they will have to pay tax on these tips. Are Revenue inspectors going to sweep down on these low-paid workers and demand their pound of flesh? These hard-working people are earning just above the minimum wage and now their tip money will be taxed as well. That would be a disgrace. We need to support the people working in our tourism sector and to work towards improving the lives of many vulnerable workers in the hospitality sector. They are on the minimum wage and the tips help them to survive in a country where our living costs such as rent, energy, childcare and insurance are constantly increasing. I know of some places where managers in the tourism sector are taking the biggest part of the tips. There is not proper regulation in place. The hard workers on the ground are only picking up the scraps that are left over. This has to stop.

The Government has hiked up the VAT rate on restaurants, hotels, hairdressers and other tourism industries, yet it has not reduced the universal social charge that it sold to the hard-working people as a short-term measure. The people working in the hospitality sector endure unsocial and long hours and they should get their just reward for this by getting not only the right to their tips but also those tips tax free.

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