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Half of restaurants are facing permanent closure in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the lobby group representing the industry.
The Irish Restaurant Association will ask tomorrow that the VAT reduction from 13.5% to 9%, which was introduced at the end of last year, be maintained until 2025.
It will also require that the exemption on commercial fees paid to local authorities remain in effect for the remainder of this year.
The Executive Director of the Irish Restaurant Association, Adrian Cummins, will tell members of the Joint Tourism Committee that existing support “does not go far enough.”
It will say that the Covid Recovery Support Plan should be extended to include Level 3 restrictions and the rate should be doubled to cover fixed costs.
“Companies previously excluded due to the lack of a fixed location, such as contract catering services, should be included in future financial support,” he says in an opening statement to the Committee.
Cummins will tell politicians that restaurants have received “little or no payment from insurance companies for business interruption claims.”
You will say that landlords have been looking for full rents for the closing period and utility providers have been shutting down services from restaurants and hotel companies.
The organization estimates that the restaurant sector contributes more than € 3 billion to the Irish economy annually.
On the other hand, the Irish Hotel Federation will also tell the politicians on the committee that banks should be able to grant companies moratoriums on repayment of loans.
It will also request that hotel industry employees be allowed to defer mortgage payments.
In a keynote address to the committee, the federation will say: “Some companies will require recapitalization when the pandemic ends.
“We suggest that consideration be given to offering equity and debt financial incentives for our industry to fully recover.”
The federation says that revenue in the hotel sector fell by more than 2.5 billion euros last year, a drop of 60%.
He says the immediate outlook remains exceptionally challenging this year.
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