By Dan Walsh
Ahead of next Tuesday’s Budget 2025, former hotelier and Fine Gael General Election candidate in the new South Wicklow-North Wexford constituency, Brian Brennan has proposed a scaled VAT rate for cafés and restaurants relating to turnover, with businesses with less than €1.5m turnover receiving a VAT rate of 6 per cent, and businesses with less than €2m turnover, receiving an 8 per cent VAT rate.
Mr. Brennan is calling for “a tiered VAT rate for cafes and restaurants to avoid a tsunami of restaurant closures this winter.”
Three more restaurants in Co. Wexford have announced closures; Geek Restaurant in Courtown, Yeah Burger in Redmond Square, Wexford town and Mexican restaurant CDMX, Cornmarket, Wexford town have all announced their plans to close.
With approximately 50 restaurant closures per month, Mr. Brennan told WexfordLocal.com that simply reducing the VAT rate to 9 per cent will not be enough to stop this trend continuing. “Long term we need to look at the overall cost structure in the food service industry,”, he said, “but we need immediate action on the VAT rate.”
He added that struggling restaurants and cafés should be on an additional reduced VAT rate compared to multinational and larger food operators. He also proposes that Food operators over 2 million should get a revised rate of 11% .
He stated that this must be part of a structured programme to support the industry, as the current model is not sustainable, and that this worrying trend of multiple closures every week is only going to accelerate this winter.
Along with a scaled VAT rates, Mr. Brennan is asking for a task force involving all the relevant stakeholders to be immediately set up. This should include representatives of the pub and Nite-club sectors and examine at their crippling costs such as insurance, cost of stock, energy costs, rates, and wages, to try find a pathway towards ensuring the closure trends throughout the hospitality industry can be reversed.
“Restaurants, cafés, and pubs, as well as their owners and staff, play huge part in the social and economic fabric of our society and closures, and the sight of empty premises, are having a detrimental effect”, concluded Mr. Brennan.
WexfordLocal.com 