With Budget 2026 just days away, there continues to be a steady stream of calls for the restoration of a 9% VAT rate in the hospitality sector.
On Wednesday, the annual conference of the Irish Tourism Industry Confederation again heard appeals for the Government to cut the rate from 13.5% on 1 January, with ITIC Chief Executive Eoghan O'Mara Walsh saying the sector was "vulnerable" and that "margins are really, really being squeezed".
Meanwhile on Tuesday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin told Independent Ireland leader Michael Collins in the Dáil that "your representations are heard" as the Cork South-West TD appealed for "the VAT rate to drop or the doors will shut".
At one small rural business on the Sneem Road in Co Kerry, posters and stickers display the message that "the future of our industry depends on 9% VAT".
'The Strawberry Field Pancake Cottage' has been serving customers for almost three decades.
Watch our video to hear from manager and owner Mayra Kerssens
