Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)

I move amendment No. 64:

In page 87, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following:

“Report on increasing the Betting Levy 62. The Minister shall, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before Dáil Éireann a report on the potential revenue, behavioural and industry impacts of increasing the betting duty.”.

This amendment is about the betting levy and a report on increasing the levy on betting. The current betting levy is very low in comparison to other European countries. The owners of Paddy Power, to use an example of one betting company, have forecast a profit of €2.45 billion this year. The ESRI estimates that one in 30 adults in Ireland suffers from gambling addiction. Some are incredibly serious. Most public representatives will have come across this. Gambling addiction can cause absolute devastation to people's lives. They can lose everything. It causes family breakdown, relationship breakdown and people can become homeless. I have seen that, and it can happen quite fast. It can have an absolutely devastating impact on people's lives. This is an industry that profits from that addiction. It makes absolute sense to increase the levy.

We had a discussion earlier about the film industry and there are lots of different industries and different ways they are treated under the tax code. To contrast them for a second, the film industry harnesses people's creativity, provides employment, showcases Ireland and its talent and provides enjoyment and intellectual stimulation. I do not deny that plenty of people involved in gambling and betting do not have addiction issues and it does not cause chaos and wreak havoc in their lives but there is a very substantial number of people it can have devastating impacts on. There is a very strong case for increasing the levy and for this to at least be examined with a report, as I am proposing.