A REPORT from the Restaurants Association of Ireland has said that 713 jobs in the Food, Tourism and Hospitality sectors have been created in Kerry since the reduced VAT rate of 9% was introduced in July 2011.

The Kerry figure is part of 22,300 new jobs in total that have been created across the whole country according to a report published by the RAI.

“As this report proves, in terms of creating new jobs in the food and accommodation sector, the introduction of the new VAT rate in July 2011 has been a major driver of local employment growth” said Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, Adrian Cummins.

“This is a very conservative estimate and does not include the number of indirect jobs created in the wider economy as a result of the multiplier effect. When the multiplier effect is included, the total number of new jobs is even more impressive, with 1,041 jobs created in Kerry and 32,558 jobs created nationally,” continued Adrian Cummins, Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland.

Using national employment data from the Central Statistics Office, the Report examines the impact of the introduction of the new VAT rate in July 2011, when it was reduced from 13.5% to 9% for tourism related services and goods.

It covers the direct and indirect number of jobs created, an estimate of social welfare savings as well as the increase in revenue for the Exchequer (e.g. PAYE, USC and PRSI Employer contribution) at a county and national level.