Restaurants Association of Ireland launches Pre-Budget Submission 2021

Rebuilding & Supporting Ireland’s Restaurant & Hospitality Sector

• Wage Supports – return to TWSS rates on a sectoral basis. Qualifying period full year 2020 compared to 2019. Inclusion of employees earning less than €151.50
• Commercial Rents – establish a forum to explore burden sharing similar to that operating in other EU member states
• Increased Tourism Budget – from €186 Million to €300 Million
• Tourism & Hospitality Continuity Grant – Introduce a €500 Million Tourism & Hospitality Continuity Grant
• Local Authority Charges – creation of small business recovery fund / a grant to cover these costs and keep the businesses solvent
• Tourism & Hospitality VAT Rate – restoration of the 9% rate
• Stay & Spend Scheme – introduction of a real time voucher scheme similar to the Eat Out to Help Out Scheme in the UK
• Excise Duty – reduction to 15%

The Costs of not supporting the Restaurant Sector

Providing support to restaurant businesses will come at a significant financial cost to the Exchequer. The proposed measures would cost around €1.6 billion in a full year. However, the costs of not providing adequate support and allowing thousands of businesses to die, would far outweigh those costs. It is conceivable that without adequate support during this 24-month period, up to 100,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. Such an outcome would impose a very significant cost on the Exchequer, which could be as high as €2.8 billion.

If 100,000 workers were to remain unemployed for a full year:

• It would cost the Exchequer around €2 billion in increased social protection expenditure.
• It would cost the Exchequer up to up to €500 million in lost payroll taxes.
• It would cost the Exchequer around €240 million in lost VAT receipts; and
• It would cost local authorities around €52 million in lost commercial rates.

The full submission can be found here