He also warns that if the threatened closures take place, the cost to the Exchequer in lost tax revenue will be 700m euro.

Mr Cummins says that restaurateurs have already adapted to the downturn by reducing costs and menu prices.

"Urgent action is now needed because the current business environment is unsustainable," he warns.

The association is calling for a budget reduction in the national minimum wage and local authority charges.

It is also seeking capital allowances for investment in the restaurant sector and a cut in excise duty. Separately, a body representing the country's retails has called on local authorities to cut commercial rates when they come to vote on the topic this month. Retail Ireland, which is part of the employers' organisation IBEC, has written to the chairperson of every local authority as well as all city and county managers to ask for a reduction of 20 per cent. The body's director Torlach Denihan said 30,000 retail jobs had been lost over the past 12 months and the sector was "struggling to avoid further redundancies" over the coming months.