Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome our visitor from Maine and hope she has a successful trip in Ireland.

It will not be long until the preparations for budget 2025 have been made. I raise the issue of holding the VAT rate at 9% and having a distinction between food and accommodation. Small restaurants, bars and pubs provide a great service not just to our economy but also to the tourism industry. They provide a great service to this country and a lot of them are under pressure. We all know from our daily jobs and activities that they are under pressure from increases in wages and so forth that have, rightly, taken place over recent years. It would be a great addition for them to hold on to the 9% VAT rate. The Government has to have a serious look at holding that 9% VAT rate for food for the foreseeable future.

The Government support schemes have been very welcome and they will give some respite to small businesses in particular. The big businesses will survive, but the small businesses could close. We see a lot of small businesses closing and changing for one reason or another. Those business support schemes will give small businesses that bit of respite, as I have said. The 9% VAT rate is a more solid issue for them going into the future. The business support schemes are a once-off payment, whereas I hope the Government continues with the 9% rate for the years ahead. They are big employers and employ a considerable number of people, whether permanent or temporary. They provide a great service for younger people on a temporary basis, during the summer and during holiday time at Easter and Christmas. The wages they pay are very welcome for the students who go to third-level colleges. They are great for the economy, students and our towns. Were the VAT to stay at 9%, it would lifeblood to them. I hope the Acting Leader might be able to communicate that or that we may have a debate on it in the very near future because the budget preparation will go ahead very shortly.