A CROSS-PARTY committee today joined calls for the government to retain the current nine per cent VAT rate on food and tourism services.

The Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation met with the chief executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Adrian Cummins, and agreed to write to the Finance Minister to call for the retention of the rate.

The committee chairman, Fine Gael deputy Damien English, said that following the meeting, they had agreed to write to Michael Noonan.

“The Association had sought a meeting with the Committee to discuss the views of its members in relation to the importance of the retention of the nine per cent VAT rate in creating and maintaining jobs in the tourism and restaurant sector.

The Committee was told that since the VAT cut in 2011, employment in the restaurant/tourism sector increased by approximately 9,000 and this growth will continue with an additional 5,000 jobs to be created over the next 18 months if VAT at nine per cent remains in effect.

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