Deliveroo has partnered with 57 Irish restaurant businesses to call on the Oireachtas Special Committee on COVID-19 Response and the government to introduce a suite of legislative changes to support restaurants.
A letter from Deliveroo CEO and founder Will Shu, co-signed by the 57 businesses, has also been sent to the leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and The Green Party.
The signatories, which collectively represent almost 100 restaurant premises and over 1,100 jobs across Ireland, include brands such as Five Guys, Eddie Rockets, Xian Street Food and Musashi.
Policy Proposals
The submission to the Oireachtas Special Committee on COVID-19 Response outlines policy proposals that Deliveroo and the 57 businesses believe would help the restaurant industry to weather the COVID-19 crisis, adapt to the new economic environment and thrive in the future.
The policy proposals include:
- Banning Commercial Evictions: Taking action on rents by extending the moratorium against residential evictions to the commercial sector for as long as social distancing measures are in place.
- Changing Planning Law: Permanently allowing restaurants to operate as takeaways and remove the need for planning permission or local authority licences to use pavements for outdoor seating.
- Cutting VAT on Restaurant Food to 0%: Reducing the tax burden on restaurants by cutting VAT to 0% on restaurant food.
- Extending the Wage Subsidy Scheme: Taking action to support staffing by maintaining the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme for the hospitality sector for as long as social distancing measures are in place.
Other measures proposed include offering grants to restaurants to help with rent, enabling staff to feel safe on their commute by creating loans for essential workers to purchase bikes and cycle to work, a government-led campaign to communicate the facts about food safety, and championing the role of local restaurants in helping to boost the economy.
"More Support Is Needed"
Deliveroo CEO and founder Will Shu stated, "We are proud to be a part of Ireland's restaurant sector and to be able to present the concerns of our local partners today. While we recognise and welcome the support the government has given to the sector to date, more support is needed to ensure long-term viability. We hope that the Oireachtas Committee on the COVID-19 Response and, indeed, any future government will consider these policies as part of the suite of measures to kick-start the economic recovery in Ireland."
© 2020 Hospitality Ireland – your source for the latest industry news. Article by Dave Simpson. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
