Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I understand the Deputy's remarks about a lack of progress on the Bill thus far, but it is the Minister's firm intention to commence Second Stage during this session. We have some weeks yet and he hopes to make progress, pending a schedule from the Whips. A stand-alone issue arises under the EU technical standards directive, in that at least three months must pass. We could not get around that directive after publishing the Bill.

I understand that the 1% rate raises approximately €27 million. Achieving a level playing field with online gambling could potentially raise €20 million, representing a total yield of €47 million. The dilemma is that online bookies are a bit like capital and labour, in that they move quickly. Trying to capture them for taxation purposes is an horrendously difficult international task. They can move quickly to jurisdictions with tax bases that are not as transparent as ours.

I am unsure as to what figure Sinn Féin's pre-budget submission asserted a 3% rate would achieve. Although there is the potential to obtain additional taxes, it must be done on the basis that the rule applies to everyone, including online operators. We cannot move to that new space until such time as we have a level playing field.