1 February 2023
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
Fianna Fail TD Christopher O’Sullivan has called for an extension of the 9% Vat rate for hairdressers.
File photo of TD
The Cork South West TD described west Cork as the “wedding capital of Ireland”, adding that the area would be negatively impacted by the rate returning to 13.5%.
He told the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Dáil on Wednesday that if the cost-of-living measure is not extended at the end of this month it could threaten the viability of hairdressers not only in Cork but the rest of the country.
“I want to bring awareness to the campaign by hairdressers right throughout the length and breadth of Ireland who are campaigning to keep vat rate for their services at 9%,” Deputy O’Sullivan said.
“It’s an issue nationally but if you look at west Cork it’s a perfect example of how it will negatively impact the industry there.
“There’s a healthy number of excellent hairdressers throughout west Cork. They play such an important role, particularly as west Cork is the wedding capital of Ireland, and hairdressers play such an important part in that whole package.
“An increase in Vat will impact the viability of these hairdressers and it is safe to say we all want more affordable. So, it’s really something I think should be revisited.”
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, in response, said he was “not aware” that west Cork was the wedding capital of Ireland.
“If that’s the case I’m willing to accept it, but I imagine deputies from Kerry, Dublin and other areas might have a different view on that,” Mr Varadkar said.
“The decision of Government is that the concessional Vat rate of 9% does go back up to 13.5% at the end of February. That was a cost-of-living measure.
“However, we will have to make some decisions at Government level in the next week or two as to what measures we might be able to extend.
“We can’t extend them all but we will try and extend some of them.”
