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Restaurateur hits back at Intel chief's shock at bill
JEROME REILLY and FRANK KHAN
ONE of the world's most influential businessmen - and Ireland's biggest private employer - is astonished at how much dinner for two costs in a Dublin restaurant.
US multimillionaire Craig R. Barrett, the notoriously hard-nosed chief executive of the giant Intel Corporation, which employs 4,700 people here, said he was "shocked" when the bill arrived.
Yesterday in an exclusive interview with the Sunday Independent, Mr Barrett revealed that he had paid the equivalent of $200 for dinner with his wife Barbara at Peploe's of St Stephen's Green which included just one glass of wine.
But the owner of the restaurant has angrily hit backsaying that Mr Barrett should think about the tax breaks his company has enjoyed in Ireland.
"He can't come in here with his big swinging dick from America and say we are too expensive," said Barry Canny of Peploe's
Talking to the Sunday Independent, the 64-year-old Intel chief described his dining experience in Dublin
"It was Sunday night and the meal was in the range of $200. We did not have a bottle of wine. I had a glass of wine and Barbara had a glass of sparkling water. May I just say that it was a very good glass of wine. I could easily spend that much in an American restaurant but I think that to pay that much money US, it would have to be a much more extravagant restaurant.
"I don't find Dublin that much more expensive than London or Munich or other spots. The real change has been what has happened in the last decade," he said.
He did not recall what he eaten at Peploe's but said he and his wife had enjoyed a starter, followed by a salad and then a main course. "Peploe's was a very nice restaurant and we enjoyed the meal very much. It was the dollar/euro ratio that provided the sticker [price] shock to me.
The cost of going out in Dublin is consistently atthe top of Eurozone surveys and has led to allegations of rip-off Ireland.
Reacting to Mr Barrett's experience last night, Trevor White, publisher of The Dubliner 100 Best Restaurants, said: "Unfortunately this vignette is all too typical. If the Government insists, as they do, that we don't have a problem, they are living in cloud cuckoo land. Rip-off Ireland is alive and well, it seems."
Mr Barrett's comments suggest that the weak dollar and high prices for drink and food is harming Ireland's competitiveness, especiallyin terms of attracting UStourists.
The owner of the restaurant, Barry Canny, angrily defended his prices and said that Mr Barrett "should think about the tax breaks he's getting, all the IDA money he's getting and the high level of education he's getting in this country.
"America has the highest margins on booze and food in the greater part of the western world. If he was shocked at $200, he should go to other Dublin restaurants where that $200 would have been $600."
Mr Canny said that Peploe's had a set lunch menu for €19.50 and a set dinner menu for €35.
"We have 225 wines and 36 of them can be bought by the glass and they start at €4.50 per glass and starts at €21 for a bottle.
"We also have very special collectors items up to €1,500 for a bottle but the majority of our business is around the €30 to €35 level for wine.
"You can have a-la-carte option. You can have a bowl of soup for €4 or cottage pie for €9.50, which is one of our biggest sellers."
The most expensive item on the Peploe's menu is black Dover sole on the bone with saffron, caper and shrimp butter at €34.50, while a warm grilled half lobster with garlic butter and sauce choron is €27.50.
"I would love to sell wine for €10 a bottle but the duty and the VAT is nearly that. PRSI and PAYE is huge. My two rubbish bins, which I have collected every day, cost me €25,000 a year. My insurance for next year is €52,000 and the rates are €35,000 a year," Mr Canny said. But critical comments from Mr Barrett, who is the head of Ireland's largest private sector employer, will cause alarm at Government level.
Mr Barrett had been out with his wife Barbara at a Dublin restaurant celebrating double awards from Irishinstitutions.
He had received the Royal Dublin Society's (RDS) committee of science and industry gold medal, and an honorary doctorate from the Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT).
During what was billed by Intel as a "private visit", he was also due to meet the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, MichealMartin.
Peploe's opened last November and has already secured a prestigious spot in Conde Nast's list of "67 Hot Tables" around the world. It's just a few minutes walk away from the five-star Westin Hotel where Mr and Mrs Barrett stayed during their Irish visit.
Intel Corporation employs 4,700 people in Leixlip, Co Kildare, and during the course of his Irish visit he called for more money to be spent on research and development and said that Ireland would be at a competitive disadvantage if they fell behind in this critical area.
In his subsequent US TVinterview, Mr Barrett was asked if the weaker dollar was helping or hindering the chip giant.
He replied: "It's not a big impact as most of our investment around the world are in dollar denominations and we have hedged some expensive purchases in anticipation of the dollar weakening.
"I don't see it being a significant impact in 2004. I was in Ireland last week with my wife and I did get a shock when I went to dinner on Sunday night.
"If it [the weak dollar] continues, it could hurt our suppliers in terms of the cost of doing business in foreign countries," he said.
Earlier this year, Intel announced it intends to invest another €1.6bn at its fabrication plants between Leixlip and Maynooth.
Mr Barrett has said the decision was evidence that the corporation believed that the Republic was still a good place to do business. By 2006, Intel will have invested €5.2bn in its Irish operations.
A recent European wide study showed that 30 per cent of Irish people are anxious about inflation and the cost of living but across the EU as a whole, it was raised by just 16 per cent of those questioned.
Asked if the high cost of Ireland and Europe could affect Intel's future investments, Mr Barrett told the Sunday Independent: "It just makes it a continuous challenge - just as it is in US - when you are looking at the cost of doing business relative to some of the Asian countries around China. Ireland has exactly the same challenges, London has the same challenges, Japan has the same challenges. All the established economies have the same challenges.
Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue warned tourism operators to watch their prices in the face of claims of "rip-offs". Mr O'Donoghue said he was concerned on recent visits to Britain that a mistaken mentality was developing about a "rip-off Ireland". "I cannot stress enough the need for the sector to take a long hard look at how it prices itself against ever-keener competition.
"There is clear deterioration in our price competitiveness - for reasons beyond the control of the industry in many cases - and this has had an adverse impact on some of our traditional markets."