Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

They have got the ship of State back off the rocks. One measure of the success of the Minister can be garnered from the Exchequer returns at the end of November. They show a surplus of €343 million for the first time since 2007. At the end of November, tax receipts were up 11.9% on the same period last year. One good thing about those figures is that the strong performance is across all tax headings rather than only one tax heading. This is an indication of improved trading and of how consumer confidence is improving.

The signs of the recovery are all around us. One need only take to the roads to see the increased traffic, particularly in the past year. There are far more commercial vehicles on the roads and many more builders and tradesmen who are particularly busy now. Some of them tell me they are finding it difficult to recruit staff. That has a knock-on effect on builders providers, hardware stores and shops. All of that is adding significantly to the tax take.

The hospitality and restaurant sector is doing exceptionally well in many parts of the country. This was due to the innovative measure the Minister introduced in his first year, namely, the 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector and the reduction in the travel tax. Like Senator Barrett, I am concerned that some hotels are abusing the measure. The Minister was right in the recent budget to issue a warning and set out how if the measure continued to be abused he would have to reconsider the measure in future budgets. I was concerned this week following the comments of the chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland. He said restaurants were now likely to start charging €1 for a glass of water.