Hospitality

Over 200 restaurants closed in first three months of year at cost of €288m to state

Restaurants Association of Ireland says that 400 closures this year would cost the state more money than returning VAT to 9 per cent

New analysis has found one closure leads to the loss of €1.36 million to the economy, 22 direct jobs and 13 indirect jobs. Picture: Getty

Over 200 restaurants, cafés and other food-led businesses shut in Ireland in the first quarter, costing the state €288 million and leading to the loss of 4,664 direct jobs, according to a report from the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI).

101 businesses in the hospitality sector closed in January, followed by 71 in February and 40 in March, according to Vision Net and sole trader figures compiled by the RAI. This is on top of ...