Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House and addressing this issue again. I thank all parties who spoke on the motion.

I have no interest or no financial benefit of any kind from anyone in the hospitality industry.I have never taken a political donation of any kind ever in my life. It is important to put on the record of the House that I get no benefit either directly or indirectly.

The 9% VAT rate is clearly included in A Programme for a Partnership Government. Therefore, for the lifetime of this Government, I suspect that the 9% rate will be retained. No tax is continued ad infinitum. I referred to "multi-annual" which, in my book, is usually for three to five years. It is not indefinite. As regards reviewing it, I believe that every tax should be reviewed. I would therefore expect that the 9%, 13.5% and 21% VAT rates will be constantly reviewed. That is a given. I do not accept the need to specify a review because if we do not review all our tax rates annually we will have a problem.

I do not accept that the €620 million is a subsidy. Many people in the hospitality industry, in every town and village, benefit from the 9% VAT rate. In fact, if that rate was not there, they probably would be out of business. There are easy pickings in cities and other successful tourist destinations where establishments are doing well and making money. In most rural towns, however, the owners of a pub that has survived and is providing food as well as drink might not be taking a salary from it. If they are, it is probably based on the minimum wage. If the 9% VAT rate goes up, I can guarantee that many such businesses will close. They are struggling to survive as it is and have not benefited from the tourist industry's bounce.

I would prefer to work on a consensual basis where a motion has merit. Senator Ó Clochartaigh knows my style in that regard, given the years we have both been Members of this House. We have a responsibility to highlight injustices and the narrative that comes from this House should reflect that. We should celebrate what is positive and good, but we must also ensure that the narrative emanating from here highlights where people are being blackguarded through mistreatment and injustice.

I have no doubt whatsoever about the sincerity of the survey in Galway because I know that Senator Ó Clochartaigh undertook such work with integrity, decency and honesty. However, I agree with the Minister that if it is certified and identified as a disease throughout the industry, it will certainly have to be dealt with. Maybe it is a Galway issue, but I suspect not. I suspect that there probably is more abuse. I call on people like Mr. Paul O'Brien of the Irish Examinerand RTE's "Prime Time Investigates" to start working on this and highlight it in the same way they have highlighted abuses that occurred in other sectors of society.

To be honest, I did not think it was as prevalent as the survey suggests. I am disappointed to hear that. The Marriott motto is correct because if staff are content, they will become team players and an important component of the team structure.

I hope many things will come from this motion, particularly promoting tourism and ensuring that it stays at the heart of government. Given what has been highlighted today, I sincerely hope that we will see further evidence-based research. That is what the Government requires. I call on the relevant appropriate bodies to undertake such research. I will co-operate in whatever way I can in that regard.

It is pity that we are not in a position to accept the amendment. I would personally like to accept it, but these things require a certain degree of evidence. Overall, however, I am happy with the debate. It is an important debate and we should have more discussions on issues such as tourism. I thank people for giving their time to contribute to the debate.