Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)

I note the Deputy's concerns but I have not seen any workable framework under the European VAT directive that allows for differentiation on turnover. I have not seen it yet. I have not seen any workable proposal in relation to that. My point is very clear. There are 228,000 jobs supported in our hospitality sector. Many of them are in regional parts of our country and the vast majority of them, well over 90%, are small businesses. That is why as a Government we have taken a view that we are supporting them very robustly.

We are going to have a new tourism plan next month. That is going to look at numerous issues. The Government is giving the sector a big incentive in taxation now. What is the sector going to do for us as a country to grow as a sector, to create jobs and to grow the value proposition and ensure we can absorb the opportunities presented by tourism? We will be working very closely with the sector. As I said, we will have a new culinary strategy. We are growing the season, growing capacity and ensuring that we develop businesses in this country. This is the key issue. We have a unique opportunity now to really develop the model that businesses operate in, to make them more sustainable and ensure they are in a position to take advantage of the huge opportunity. We are in a very exciting time, particularly for tourism and hospitality. We have a lot of work to do in making businesses viable and this is a viability measure to ensure jobs can be retained. So many workers going up through the system get their first job in hospitality. They learn what it is like to be in society, to work and contribute as they go through. It is very important that we stand by all of those areas.

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