Clare publicans march on the Dáil

A representative group of publicans from all over Ireland walked to the Dáil on Thursday of last week and called on the Government to help save the 5,000 jobs predicted to be lost in the pub industry in 2012. Among them, were Clare publicans from across the county.
30,000 jobs have been lost in the pub trade in the last five years alone at an estimated current annual cost to the exchequer of €630m. Speaking at the meeting, the president of the VFI, Gerry Mellett, a rural publican based in Carlow said, “The pub industry is on its knees and more than one pub is closing every day. The industry is haemorrhaging jobs and last year over 5,000 people went out of work from our industry. That is the equivalent of five ‘Avivas’ and next year is looking even bleaker. We have experienced our worst October in over two decades after years of decline and we need urgent action to save jobs.”
The publicans, who are all members of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), gathered outside Dáil Éireann to highlight the major concerns and challenges facing thousands of pubs, predominantly family-run businesses, throughout Ireland.
They claim significant closures and job losses are inevitable, unless critical measures are implemented by Government to support the struggling pub industry.
The demands laid out at the meeting by the VFI members indicate a number of changes. They call for the Valuation Bill coming before the Dáil to have a clause that allows an appeal on rates based on a change in economic circumstances of the business. It suggests that publicans should be exempt from VAT and VRT on all new seven and nine seat vehicles to reflect the reality that publicans are de facto taxi drivers in rural Ireland.
An increase in the current VAT exemption threshold from a turnover figure of €75,000 to €100,000; and that Government needs to have a radical overhaul of the regulatory burden imposed on small and medium-sized businesses, make up the rest of the demands.
Clare chairman of VFI, Declan Brandon said, “We had a great turnout at the march. Publicans from every county, including our own committee. There were 12 publicans from Clare. We felt it was more important to be geographically spread out than high in numbers; the 12 were from all areas across Clare.”
He also spoke of his satisfaction at how the march went.
“The march went very well. Those who we met with were very helpful and co-operative. We actually had a pre-empted meeting, and another meeting last Thursday. I felt we got a good response, a positive response. The facts speak for themselves: 100 pubs have close in Clare since the smoking ban.
“It’s a very tough job, being a publican. They’re just hanging in there. You can’t expect them to ask people to pay, when they can just buy their drink in Dunnes or Tesco for half the price.”
President of the VFI, Gerry Mellett explained the positive effects these measures could have on what is a vital industry for the national economy, “The VFI firmly believes that if these issues are addressed and appropriate policies are put in place, thousands of jobs could be saved with consequent savings for the exchequer. The current administration is not to blame for years of neglect, poor legislation and high costs facing small businesses, but the future of our industry is in their hands.
“The majority of our publicans cannot sustain current sales trends allied to the high cost base of doing business. It is within the government’s power to reduce the cost of doing business in Ireland to help publicans and other small businesses keep their doors open and save jobs. Pubs are cutting costs and trying to stay afloat but we need assistance,” he said
Padraig Cribben, CEO of the VFI, outlined in more detail the demands of the publicans.
“While we welcome the Taoiseach’s commitment to address the issue of cheap alcohol in supermarkets by way of minimum pricing, there are other issues that need to be tackled. Rates need to be addressed.
“Initially we need to have a change to allow for rates to be appealed based on ones ability to pay. There needs to be an overall reduction in the cost of local government so that the rates burden can be reduced by 15% per annum over the next three to four years.”
“Increasing the current VAT exemption threshold from €75,0000 to €100,000 would bring hundreds of small pubs into this bracket and would help enormously. Recent initiatives to lessen the excise burden should be continued, to help boost the tourist trade and employment in labour intensive on sector.”
“To support publicans in making even marginal savings, we are also calling for publicans who use seven and nine seat vehicles to transport patrons to and from their premises to be able to offset the VAT/VRT as a business expense. This would fairly reflect the reality that publicans are already acting as taxi drivers in rural Ireland at a significant cost to themselves.”
The VFI was established in 1973 from smaller associations for the protection and betterment of the livelihood of the individual publican. The VFI has approximately 4,500 members and is a firmly established strong national trade organisation.