CHRISTMAS shoppers will hit the stores today scrambling to buy toys and other goods before the huge 2pc VAT hike comes in on December 7 amid fears it will drive shoppers north of the Border.
The price of hundreds of everyday items will rise, costing the average household in the county more than €500 a year, analysts say.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has dismissed claims it will push people north – but local Business group IBEC predicted it would “further depress consumer spending and delay the recovery.”
Fine Gael TD John Deasy said the Coalition needed to find the necessary adjustment next year in existing Government services and programmes and slammed the VAT increase.
“I am totally against this hike in VAT right now and I think it demonstrates a total lack of understanding about what is happening in the retail sector in particular,” he said.
So far Dinny McGinley and Joe McHugh have said nothing.
Fianna Fail TD Charlie McConalogue called on the Taoiseach to explain how the German parliament was given access to details about the upcoming Budget and said the move was a disaster for Donegal.
Petrol prices are now cheaper in some petrol stations north of the Border – with fears that diesel prices could follow, wiping out many Border communities.
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