Tourism minister warns against hiking Vat rate on hospitality

Minister of State for Tourism Brendan Griffin has privately warned Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe that the 9 per cent Vat rate for hospitality industry is “sacrosanct”.

There are fears within the hotel and restaurant sector that the government is going to bring its Vat rate back up from 9 per cent to 13.5 per cent to raise €520 million.

But at the Fine Gael parliamentary party gathering in Galway last week, Griffin ...