Kerry hotelier says focus on transient workers’ pay misleading

A Kerry hotelier says the focus on rates of pay given to students or short-term workers isn’t representative of the industry as a whole.

Chair of the Kerry Branch of the Irish Hotels Federation Bernadette Randles says the hospitality industry needs to be protected, adding it supported 15,700 jobs in Kerry pre-pandemic.

Ahead of Budget 2022, the IHF is calling for retention of the 9% VAT rate, and extension of both the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme and rates waiver until next June.

Bernadette Randles says the media doesn’t focus on the conditions and pay of staff who have been working long-term in the industry.

She says those with longer work histories are usually paid well above the minimum wage.