The drinks industry has called for measures in tomorrow's jobs initiative to help the sector after a new report showed 7,000 jobs were lost last year.
A Dublin City University report also showed a 10.5% decline in sales volume last year, and a 13.1% drop in sales value. It said there has been a further decline of 7.4% for the first three months of this year.
Welcoming the Government's focus on jobs, it said a series of straightforward measures, such as abolishing the charging of VAT on excise and banning the below cost selling of alcohol would stop the trend of closures and redundancies.
It called on the Government to reduce the cost of Special Exemption Orders to €200 per order.
Both the drinks industry and the Restaurant Association of Ireland have called for the abolition of the Joint Labour Committee system for setting wages.
The JLC sets minimum terms and conditions of employment in the catering sector above and beyond the national minimum wage, including premium payment for weekend and overtime work.
Restaurateurs also want the Sunday Premium Scheme to be scrapped, and pointed out Ireland is the only country in Europe that pay a premium.
Restaurant owners pay 33% wage premium on a Sunday. Making the call, the association said 4,000 new jobs could be created if the Government did away with the JLC system.
