Select committee: Northern Ireland Affairs Committee

The taxation of the hospitality and tourism sectors in Northern Ireland

Open Opened 9 Jul 2026

Northern Ireland Affairs Committee Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Inquiry scope (the committee's words)

The committee is undertaking an inquiry into the taxation of the hospitality and tourism sectors in Northern Ireland, which will consider differences in VAT rates and other costs between Northern Ireland’s hospitality and tourism sectors compared with the Republic of Ireland. It will examine the potential impact of a reduced VAT rate and explore what other tax and policy changes could help support the sectors. Read our call for evidence for more detail about the inquiry and how to contribute your views

Where it stands

The inquiry is open, opened 9 July 2026.

The committee has not published a report yet.

Evidence

2 oral evidence sessionsLatest 14 October 2026
23 written submissions
6 witnesses

All evidence

Recent activity

Correspondence to the Chancellor of the Exchequer relating to the taxation of the hospitality and tourism sectors inquiry, dated 22 October 2026.22 October 2026, Correspondence
Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance21 October 2026, Written evidence · THT0024
Oral evidence session14 October 2026, Oral evidence

Oral evidence sessions

2 sessions

On smaller screens, scroll horizontally to read every column. Keyboard users can focus the table region and use the arrow keys.

Date	Session and witnesses	Source
14 Oct 2026	Oral evidence session Aidan Lyons · Grant Thornton Ireland, Dr Joanne Stuart · Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance	View ↗
2 Sep 2026	Oral evidence session Adrian Cummins · Restaurants Association of Ireland, Gareth Hetherington · Ulster University, Michael Cadden · Hospitality Ulster, Selina Horshi · Hospitality Ulster	View ↗

Written evidence

23 submissions recorded

Submission metadata is shown here; use the source links to read the evidence on Parliament’s website.

On smaller screens, scroll horizontally to read every column. Keyboard users can focus the table region and use the arrow keys.

Reference	Date	Submitter
THT0024 Full text not held	21 Oct 2026	Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance
THT0005	10 Sep 2026	Holiday and Residential Parks Association
THT0006	10 Sep 2026	Society of Independent Brewers and Associates (SIBA)
THT0007	10 Sep 2026	BHARATHAM NI
THT0001 Full text not held	9 Sep 2026	Anonymised
THT0002	9 Sep 2026	The Dundrum Inn
THT0003	9 Sep 2026	MR ISHTIAQ HUSSAIN, IAAPA - Independent Analysis and Policy Architecture
THT0004	9 Sep 2026	Prime Directive AI Ltd
THT0009	9 Sep 2026	Titanic Hotel Belfast
THT0010	9 Sep 2026	McDonald's UK & Ireland
THT0011	9 Sep 2026	EVELYSE CARVALHO-RIBAS, MoroAK and University of Leeds
THT0012	9 Sep 2026	Bangor University
THT0013	9 Sep 2026	National Trust
THT0014	9 Sep 2026	Mr Jordan Graham, Sugar Snap
THT0015	9 Sep 2026	Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance
THT0016	9 Sep 2026	Northern Ireland Hotels Federation
THT0017	9 Sep 2026	ABTA - The Travel Association
THT0018	9 Sep 2026	CBI Northern Ireland
THT0019	9 Sep 2026	Hospitality Ulster
THT0020	9 Sep 2026	Northern Ireland Food to Go Association (NIFTGA)
THT0021	9 Sep 2026	JOHN O’DOWD MLA and DR CAOIMHE ARCHIBALD MLA, Northern Ireland Executive
THT0022	9 Sep 2026	HM Treasury
THT0023	9 Sep 2026	Grant Thornton Ireland

Who gave evidence

6 witnesses

On smaller screens, scroll horizontally to read every column. Keyboard users can focus the table region and use the arrow keys.

Witness	Organisation	Sessions
Adrian Cummins · CEO	Restaurants Association of Ireland	1
Aidan Lyons · Director of Indirect Tax	Grant Thornton Ireland	1
Dr Joanne Stuart · CEO	Northern Ireland Tourism Alliance	1
Gareth Hetherington · Director of the Economic Policy Centre	Ulster University	1
Michael Cadden · Chair	Hospitality Ulster	1
Selina Horshi · Member	Hospitality Ulster	1

Correspondence

1 letter

On smaller screens, scroll horizontally to read every column. Keyboard users can focus the table region and use the arrow keys.

Published	Direction	Letter
22 Oct 2026	Not recorded	Correspondence to the Chancellor of the Exchequer relating to the taxation of the hospitality and tourism sectors inquiry, dated 22 October 2026.