Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)

As we near the budget announcement next week, there is no doubt about the demands on the Government with the cost-of-living crisis, with families and the elderly severely squeezed financially at this time. Tillage and dairy farmers are under enormous pressure. Independent Ireland has also called for the abolition of the carer's means test.

One thing Independent Ireland has called for in the past two years is to bring the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% for the hospitality sector. That was the rate until September 2023. This sector is under enormous pressure as cafés and restaurants throughout the country are losing money on a daily basis. In 2024, 600 cafés and similar food establishments closed their doors. Also under enormous pressure are restaurants, most of which close four or five days per week as it is too costly to open their doors. Everywhere I go, whether it is Dublin, Galway, Wexford or west Cork, the cry is the same; the VAT rate has to drop or the doors will shut. One café owner told me at the end of July that the first time he had made a profit to pay himself was two weeks earlier. He had been open since January this year. He knows it is curtains for his business.

The crisis the sector is in now is that the new VAT rate drop, if it comes, will not go to customers as a reduction. It will just help to pay bills, such as energy bills, that have spiralled out of control. It is the same for restaurants, which in most of the country are closed for most of the week as they suffer too many losses if the doors are open seven days per week. This Government has promised a drop in the VAT rate for these businesses for the past year or so and it cannot be kicked down the road any longer. We cannot allow these small, but effective businesses that are employing ten, and in some cases up to 20, local people, including young people and students, just to shut their doors. These businesses are not asking for handouts. They pay rates, electricity, oil and rubbish bills; they have staffing costs; they have to pay PRSI; they pay for insurance and maintenance; and they purchase stock. Lately, a new charge has been levied by the councils for outdoor seating. All this and then they are expected to turn a profit. This has turned dream cafés and food outlets into nightmare adventures.

In recent media reports, I have heard the Labour Party, the Social Democrats and People Before Profit all say they will hit out at the Government if it considers a drop in the VAT rate to 9%. Independent Ireland stands by these businesses as we are in touch with these people on the ground. We know the exact difficulties they are going through. Before the last election, Government TDs promised an immediate drop in the VAT rate. Will the Taoiseach clearly tell the House today that the Government is still committed to dropping the VAT rate from 13.5% to 9% in next week's budget, effective immediately? If not - if it tries to kick the can down the road - it will lead to hundreds of cafés and restaurants closing their doors for good this winter.

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