Vat cut ‘drives’ spike in hospitality jobs

The Restaurants Association of Ireland is claiming the creation of 45,260 new jobs in the hospitality and food sector since 2011 is largely due to a reduced Vat rate for the sector.

A report by economist Jim Power, which the association commissioned, looked at direct and indirect jobs created and an estimate of the social welfare savings, as well as the increase in revenue for the exchequer.

Using statistics from the Central Statistics Office, it concluded the number of people directly employed in the accommodation and food services sector was 145,900 in the first quarter of this year which was 31,000 more than in the second quarter of 2011.