Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his response. The Government's announcement on the final extension of the 9% reduced VAT rate for the tourism and hospitality sectors, which includes hairdressers, for a further six months, as part of the cost-of-living measures to deal with the increases was exceptional news for many businesses, as were the alterations to the temporary business energy support scheme, TBESS. If we look at the current VAT rates in Europe, at 13.5% only two other countries, namely Denmark and the UK, would be higher than Ireland. France, Italy and Spain are at 10% while Portugal is at 6%. I ask the Minister to give consideration in the months ahead to evaluating the potential impact this may have. I acknowledge that there have been numerous extensions since the Covid-19 pandemic and that the Government has played a hugely important role in the tourism and hospitality sectors, including with the wage subsidy scheme, but I ask the Minister to consider this.

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