Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The reason the betting tax was introduced was to try to stop the haemorrhage of people moving from betting in betting shops to betting online. If there is a 20% betting tax today but no tax on betting online, all those who bet in shops will feel ill. It is wrong to say it was merely about a reduction in tax; having to compete with outlets that charged no tax would have wiped out every betting shop in the country.

I do not accept the argument that there has been a significant decrease in the amount people are betting, although that warrants another discussion in terms of those people who have problems with gambling. Migration is the biggest problem in the business. When one considers the expansion of online betting companies, it is clear somebody is betting with them. There is a significant migration.