The vast majority - 93.9% - of restaurants in Ireland have passed on the country’s VAT reduction to their customers, according to a survey of 148 outlets.
VAT in Ireland was cut from 13.5% to 9% in July and the rate is set to remain until December 2013.
The survey by the Restaurants Association of Ireland (RAI) also found that 44.8% of restaurants increased their like-for-like turnover in the last eight months; 55.2% saw an average 6.7% decrease.
The top two issues effecting restaurants were wages costs (81.8%) and local authority charges (60.1%).
The findings give some indication of what might happen in the UK if the sector is given a VAT cut.
The survey also focuses on the positive impact of July’s abolition of Ireland’s Joint Labour Committee Employment Regulation Order, which set a higher premium on workers’ wages and was described as “anti-business”.
According to the survey, 61.5% of restaurants have taken on more staff since the Order was scrapped, creating 490 jobs.
