Hundreds of business owners and workers from the hospitality, tourism, retail and other sectors are expected to take part in a protest in Dublin later today.
The protesters are seeking to highlight what they claim are unsustainable costs and a lack of meaningful support from the Government in the Budget.
The action is being organised by the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) and Vintners’ Federation of Ireland and is supported by the Irish Small and Medium Sized Enterprises association (ISME).
The groups claim many of the costs are being driven by Government policy decisions, such as increases to the National Minimum Wage and paid statutory sick days.
The organisations are also critical of the pace of the planned transition to a Living Wage and the introduction of pension auto-enrolment next year.
They claim all these policies have arrived at once, amid an already inflationary cost environment.
“Restaurateurs, small coffee shop owners and others in the hospitality industry are hard-working people operating in what is currently an incredibly challenging business environment,” said Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the RAI.
“They would much rather be serving great food and welcoming guests from across the country and across the world than travelling to Dublin to protest.”
“Unfortunately, the lack of support for hospitality and small businesses in Budget 2025 made this demonstration inevitable.”
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said: “Nearly 700 businesses have closed in the last 13 months since the VAT rate went back up to 13.5%.
“We felt that the Budget nothing major being delivered to us, and we have to take our issues to Dáil Éireann today”.
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Despite considerable pressure to do so, the Government did not re-introduce a 9% VAT rate for the hospitality sector in the Budget.
Instead, it introduced a new €4,000 grant for small and medium sized businesses and increased the VAT registration thresholds for firms.
But the hospitality sector says the grant is worth €77 a week and will not make any significant dent in the cost increases facing businesses next year.
“Publicans across Ireland are at breaking point. Rising costs, combined with a lack of meaningful Government support, are pushing our businesses to the brink,” said Pat Crotty, CEO of the Vintners’ Federation of Ireland.
“We are here today to demand action because, without urgent intervention, many pubs won’t survive the winter.”
ISME said that while it supports Government policy to improve terms and conditions of employment, the Government has moved too far, too fast, and in too short a period of time for businesses and consumers to adjust.
“The effect on the hospitality, food, childcare, leisure, grooming, construction and nursing homes sectors in particular have been existential,” it said.
“Despite the fact we are close to full employment, we are seeing businesses in these sectors closing on a daily basis, when in fact they should be at their most profitable at the top of the economic cycle.”
