Cllr. Michèal Naughton is calling on Minister Shane Ross to reinstate the 9% VAT for the tourism sector.
The county councillor says competitiveness and investment at this time of uncertainty is necessary in order to support Ireland’s largest and indigenous industry and biggest regional employer.
Ireland’s tourism and hospitality sector is the largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer the country has employing 270,000 people.
After a number of strong years 2019 is far more challenging with latest available data from the CSO showing expenditure by overseas visitors down by 4% with all markets in retreat with the exception of North America, said Cllr Naughton.
This period represents a key juncture for Irish Tourism with Brexit, increased VAT, rates, unsustainable insurance increases and rising cost of business with regards to labour, energy, water and waste all making trading conditions much more difficult for the 20,000 tourism and hospitality businesses throughout the country, he added.
At a time of great international uncertainty Irish Tourism must be protected and supported.
Cllr Naughton said “Tourism growth is one of the most effective ways to create a more balanced economy aimed at spreading employment opportunities and growth across the entire country, the majority of the near 80,000 jobs created by the tourism industry nationwide since 2011 have been outside Dublin and in the regions.”
Budget 2020 is a critical opportunity for the Government to prove its commitment to Irish Tourism and support Ireland’s largest indigenous industry and biggest regional employer.
Pro-competitive policies and strategic investment is required more than ever as Ireland’s tourism faces a challenging period.
Irish Tourism is uniquely exposed to Brexit with 39% of all international visitors coming from Britain, and the Northern Ireland market is hugely important to us here in Donegal, said Cllr Naughton.
He added “It is estimated that a hard Brexit will cost Irish Tourism €260 million in the immediate aftermath with an impact on aviation, tourism demand and cross border movements. Such a period of uncertainty demands stability and the retention of the tourism VAT rate of 9% is critical.
“Ireland’s tourism industry can continue to deliver jobs, regional development and strong exchequer returns but only if growth is enabled by the right policies and investment decisions by Government. The Tourism VAT rate at 9% is right sized for Ireland as 16 of the 19 Eurozone countries have VAT rates of 10 or lower. “
