Today I will take the opportunity to seek a commitment to retain the 9% tourism VAT rate, which is vital to my constituency of Wexford in the coastal sunny south east. Tourism businesses, hotels and restaurants, are collectively our largest employer and prior to the pandemic that industry supported over 270,000 livelihoods nationwide. That included 10,000 jobs throughout County Wexford, generating €227 million in tourism revenues annually for our local economy. In light of the turbulent times ahead, it is therefore worrying that the Government plans to increase the tourism VAT rate to 13.5% at the end of February. This will turn tourism business models on their head at a time when there are ever-increasing operational costs. On behalf of the hotel, restaurant and cafe owners and their staff throughout County Wexford, I urge that all parties to the incoming Government retain the 9% VAT rate.

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. To be fair, the Government has been very supportive of the hospitality and tourism sector over the past two and a half years, making unprecedented interventions during Covid-19. There was the reduction in the VAT rate to 9%, which has also been advantageous to the industry. The Government will give all of these issues due consideration across all Government parties in 2023.