The Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) has revealed its pre-budget submission for 2021 in which it calls on the Irish government to implement a number of support measures for Ireland's restaurant and hospitality sectors.
The Measures For Which The RAI Is Calling
In the submission, the RAI calls for a return to temporary wage subsidy scheme (TWSS) rates on a sectoral basis, with a qualifying period of full year 2020 compared to 2019 and the inclusion of employees who earn less than €151.50; the establishment of a forum to explore burden sharing for commercial rents; an increase in the tourism budget from €186 Million to €300 Million; the introduction of a €500 million tourism and hospitality continuity grant; the creation of a small business recovery fund / a grant to cover local authority charges and keep businesses solvent; a reduction of the tourism and hospitality VAT rate to 9%; the introduction of a real time voucher scheme similar to the UK's "eat out to help out" discount scheme; and a reduction of excise duty to 15%.
Purported Potential Cost Of Not Implementing The Measures Mentioned
The RAI stated, “Providing support to restaurant businesses will come at a significant financial cost to the Exchequer. The proposed measures would cost around €1.6 billion in a full year. However, the costs of not providing adequate support and allowing thousands of businesses to die would far outweigh those costs. It is conceivable that without adequate support during this 24 month period, up to 100,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. Such an outcome would impose a very significant cost on the Exchequer, which could be as high as €2.8 billion.”
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