HU WELCOMES SINN FEIN PLEDGE FOR 9 PERCENT VAT IN REPUBLIC

21 November 2024

Hospitality Ulster welcomes Sinn Féin pledge for 9% VAT in Republic and calls on Sinn Féin to apply this support for the reduction of VAT in Northern Ireland.

Hospitality Ulster has welcomed the pledge made by Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald TD over the weekend that the party would reduce VAT for businesses in the Republic of Ireland if brought to power in the forthcoming Irish general election. With the current VAT rate standing at 13.5%, McDonald has pledged to reduce the rate to 9% for five years, a target hospitality organisations in the Republic have long campaigned for.

Hospitality Ulster Chief Executive Colin Neill welcomed the pledge and called on Sinn Féin to commit itself to the reduction of VAT on both sides of the border. With VAT on hospitality currently standing at 20% in Northern Ireland, Hospitality Ulster has called for a reduction in the VAT rate in Northern Ireland as part of the Enhanced Investment Zone to which the UK Government has recently re-pledged its support.

Colin Neill, Chief Executive, Hospitality Ulster said:

“Hospitality Ulster welcomes the Sinn Féin pledge to lower the VAT rate in the Republic of Ireland to 9%. As a long-campaigned for goal, this pledge will come as good news to our colleagues in the Republic.

“As an all-island party, we now call on Sinn Féin to apply this support for the reduction of VAT to stimulate the local economy to Northern Ireland. We would note that the VAT rate that Sinn Féin are pledging to reduce is 13.5%; already significantly lower than the 20% rate currently applying here.

“The UK Government has pledged its support for an Enhanced Investment Zone in Northern Ireland and we are calling for a reduction in the VAT rate here as part of that investment. As they have done so in the Republic, and as the party in charge of both the Finance and Economy portfolios, we call on Sinn Féin to do the same.”