314. Deputy Tony McCormack asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment if he is concerned by reports that 22% of pubs reduced staffing levels during the past 12 months due to cost pressures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [51587/26]

The Government recognises the important economic, social and cultural role that pubs play in communities across Ireland, where they often serve as important local employers, tourism assets and centres of community life. My Department is aware of concerns regarding the challenges faced by pubs and hospitality businesses arising from increasing business costs, labour shortages, changing consumer behaviour and broader demographic trends.

My Department engages regularly with representative bodies from the hospitality sector, including through structured stakeholder engagement and the Cost of Business Advisory Forum. These engagements provide valuable insight into the challenges facing hospitality businesses, including rural pubs, and have highlighted issues such as labour costs, energy prices, insurance costs, regulatory requirements and changing patterns of consumer demand.

The Programme for Government recognises the importance of the hospitality sector and contains a range of commitments aimed at supporting the viability and competitiveness of small businesses. As part of these commitments, the Government reduced the VAT rate applying to food and catering services from 13.5 per cent to 9 per cent with effect from 1 July 2026. This reduced rate applies to food and catering services provided by restaurants, cafés, pubs and catering businesses, although EU VAT rules require alcoholic beverages to continue to be charged at the standard rate.

The role of pubs extends beyond their direct economic contribution. The recently published National Tourism Policy Statement, A New Era for Irish Tourism, identifies food and drink tourism as a key area for future development and recognises pubs as an important part of Ireland's tourism offering and visitor experience. Pubs can play a significant role in supporting regional tourism, local food and drink experiences, festivals and destination development initiatives.

More broadly, the Government's approach to rural development, as reflected in Our Rural Future, recognises the importance of sustaining vibrant rural communities and supporting local enterprise across rural Ireland. Rural pubs can make an important contribution in this regard by providing places for social interaction, supporting community life and helping to address rural isolation.

In addition, my Department established a Small Business Unit to ensure that the needs of small businesses receive dedicated attention across Government. The Unit works to strengthen the application of the SME Test across policy-making, improve access to business supports through the National Enterprise Hub and ensure that the needs of small businesses, including hospitality enterprises, are reflected in Government decision-making.

I intend to bring the report of the Cost of Business Advisory Forum to government in July, which sets out the views of business across a range of sectors on how government can act to reduce and mitigate costs pressures on business, and enhance Ireland's competitiveness standing, particularly for small businesses.

The Government will continue to engage with hospitality sector stakeholders and monitor the challenges facing pubs as part of its wider commitment to supporting a competitive, sustainable and regionally balanced enterprise and tourism sector.