You can’t please all the people all of the time

WHOEVER coined the phrase ‘it’s impossible to please all of the people all of the time’ was certainly speaking the truth when it comes to Budget 2025.

After the biggest giveaway in the history of the state, some sections of society are not alone unhappy but actually feel completely ignored by government – a price which may be paid in the loss of all-important seats in the not-too-distant future.

I speak specifically about the hospitality sector, more particularly about the non-reduction of the 13.5% VAT, which everyone, including the dogs in the street, know is killing the industry.

Being glib about the state of that industry, some people often use the fact that at weekends, pubs, cafés and restaurants are full and impossible to get into. But remember, the week consists of seven days. It is all right to say bookings are strong on Fridays and Saturdays, but that doesn’t go close to giving the operator a chance to cover costs, let alone make a profit.

Anyone who reads this column knows I have a soft spot for the hospitality sector. I earned quite a good living working in it during my time as a third-level student – and afterwards when trying to get a mortgage and just enjoy the few extras it allowed me to buy, after my pay from my full-time job was either gobbled up with taxes or simply paying essential bills.

But I found it interesting to learn that Richard Corrigan, perhaps one of the best chefs and businesspeople in this country when it comes to the hospitality sector, found he could not make it work in Dublin and was forced to close that branch of his business.

Why? Because he said he had at best three days a week to cover costs, but he really needed all seven to make the business viable. This is a man who is recognised as having the know-how to deliver, not just here in Ireland but also in London, so if he couldn’t make it work in Dublin, nobody can.

In the late 1970s, I worked in a couple of hotels in Carlow where, without fail, there was a dinner dance on Wednesdays and Fridays and a wedding on Saturdays, and the bar would be hopping seven nights a week.

Dinner dances are a thing of the past – most people wouldn’t even understand what they were all about if you mention it to them today. As for the bar trade, we all know that business is struggling, to say the least.

I visited one well-known pub/restaurant on Thursday, and yes, the place was alive – but only until 9pm. I happened to enquire how many people were working, to make sure we all got served promptly, and wasn’t the least bit surprised to find the figure was 30. Even taking the minimum wage as a baseline to work from – and many of those 30 people were paid a lot more than that – I’m sure everyone would agree that is a hell of a wage bill, not to mention all the other costs such as food, lighting, heating, rates, IMRO, insurance, refuse collection … the list goes on and on.

That was a Thursday night and I’m sure they enjoyed a very busy Friday and Saturday night as well, maybe even Sunday. But what about the rest of the week? I have also visited on some of those nights and found it not so busy, yet they still had to have staff on duty, just in case a crowd turned up unexpectedly.

That, you might say is their good fortune, to be able to serve food and drink. But spare a thought for the many pubs in Carlow and around the country which rely on the punter, who is only interested in having a pint.

It has been a long time since any publican could claim they are making enough money each day of the week to cover costs. Go into one any Monday or Tuesday and you’ll see a handful at the bar counter watching a Premier League match – which, by the way, comes at a heavy price to the publican. But if the TV is not on, he may as well not open his doors.

I don’t know the exact number of pubs, restaurants and cafés that have closed over the past 12 months – it is believed to run into the hundreds, but unless something is done – and not just short-term give-aways such as a €4,000 handout if your rates are under a certain threshold – there will be even more come January and February.

We are taxed to the hilt in this country. Not alone are your wages taxed, but everything you buy afterwards is taxed again and again. How much tax does this country really need to take from us to make the books balance?

It would appear that officials in the Department of Finance resisted reducing the VAT rate to Covid levels. Anyone can justify anything by playing with figures, but they should also consider the number of people employed in hospitality.

Unemployment levels in this country are at an all-time low – between 3% and 4%. That allows for taxes to be spent elsewhere, instead of on social welfare. Just imagine the consequences if most of the 45,000 people currently employed in the hospitality industry find themselves out of work in the New Year come knocking on social welfare’s door in need of assistance.

But more importantly, if you are a politician, what reception you will receive when you go knocking on their door over the coming weeks, in search of an all-important vote which may determine whether or not you will be joining them in that social welfare queue in the New Year?