While Q1 2025 data suggested growth, driven largely by part-time jobs, the Q2 figures reveal a clear contraction. Hospitality employment stood at 181,000 in Q2 2025, down from 184,200 in Q2 2024, a 1.7% decrease year-on-year. In contrast, total national employment grew by 2.3%. Full-time employment in hospitality fell by 6.7%, while part-time roles rose by 4.1%, increasing reliance on part-time workers. On a full-time equivalent basis, employment dropped by 4.3%. Dublin hospitality employment fell by 5.0%, while the rest of the country saw a smaller decline of 0.4%. Hours worked in food and accommodation fell by 5.42%, equal to 300,000 fewer hours, while overall economy hours increased by 1.83%.
Following vigorous lobbying by employers, the Government has restored the 9% VAT rate. Restaurants Association of Ireland, the employer umbrella group, stated that the necessity for this step was a result of high labour costs and the introduction of auto-enrolment. However, workers in the area are some of the lowest paid in the State, with the most precarious employment arrangements and will remain so in July when the change is implemented.
Divisional Organiser, Adrian Kane, at the recent SIPTU Hospitality and Finance Annual General Meeting, said: “The 9% VAT rate for food, catering and hairdressing services is scheduled to return on 1st July 2026. This tax break represents a massive transfer of public wealth to often highly profitable businesses, while the workers who generate those profits remain trapped in a cycle of working poverty.
“It is a scandal that this Government continues to prioritise the margins of profitable businesses over the survival of the men and women who keep the services sector running. We are calling for an immediate halt to this tax break. The estimated €680 million this will cost the Exchequer in a full year is money that belongs to the public. It should be used to provide direct relief to workers currently being crushed by the cost-of-living and energy crises.”
There have been several recent changes in the sector, including the retirement of the former SIPTU Honorary President Mary O’Sullivan. Mary has spent 47 years working with AXA, representing members in her role as Shop Steward from the early 1990s. In March 2022, Mary became SIPTU’s first female Honorary President and she was elected to a second term in 2023.
SIPTU Sector Organiser, Áine Feeney, said: “We extend our best wishes and gratitude to Mary for her tireless work in the advancement of the principles of the trade union movement and her work on behalf of workers, particularly in our sector. Her endeavours have left the sector in a much better place.”