Tourism sector - Noonan should leave Vat alone

As an island nation on the remote western periphery of Europe, modern Ireland has always depended on tourism as a central plank of the economy.

But when the country was brought to its knees by the madness of the so-called Celtic Tiger, tourism suffered with most other industries. The ‘land of a thousand welcomes’ looked for a spell as if it would become a graveyard of hotels and restaurants.

In desperation, hoteliers slashed room prices, the ‘Gathering’ was announced in a bid to bring home the far-flung Irish diaspora and in an inspired move Finance Minister Michael Noonan surprisingly reduced Vat for the hospitality sector from 13.5% to 9% in 2011.