Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are discussing the Betting (Amendment) Bill. If we look at online gambling, sport represents a small proportion of the overall book; it is what attracts people in. The heavy money is spent on the roulette tables, the poker tables, Texas hold 'em and other such games. None of that is taxed in this country. We are taxing online gambling for the first time but we are only taxing a small part of online gambling. There is obviously difficulty with a turnover tax on some of the other forms, including roulette, Texas hold 'em, poker and blackjack. However, we can and should develop a profits tax for this. We need to move into the realm of profits, which would not be a major draw on the Exchequer. I am informed that approximately 93% of all turnover is paid out again so we would be basically taxing the same thing. By doing that, it is easier to tax the other books which would be more lucrative for the State.

I like to gamble the odd time on all of these types of books, but this is taxing a vice. It is probably the only thing left in the State that is not taxed appropriately. I am talking about online activity. I do not believe people will be turned off if there were a 3% profits tax on a bet. People will not be turned off over paying 30 cent on winnings of a tenner and if they are, they can afford it because they choose to do this; they do not have to do this. We can consider the things we have taxed in the past such as fuel to heat people's homes or to get to work in a car, or basics such putting a shirt on one's back or food on the table. This is an area where we should look at the rate. Overall we should consider whether we are really taxing gambling.

I have talked about online gambling, but there is another area of gambling. We can walk into any casino in Dublin tonight and there is no duty or tax. I accept there is tax on the profits of the company and so forth, but there is no duty. We are identifying one wee area and it took us a long time to close this area down in terms of online sports betting, but there are whole other areas we have just left out. As we struggle to balance the books in the State we should focus on this area. I encourage the Government to go down this route. Moving from a turnover tax to a profit tax is a way to capture those books and also to have a rate that ensures the industry is sustainable. It would bring in sufficient revenue to the State to fund the horse and greyhound racing fund and also to cover other areas such as gambling addiction and other areas that badly need it.