Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We had a good discussion on this issue on Committee Stage. It is widely acknowledged that the change will have a significant and detrimental impact on independent bookmakers, in particular. I support Deputy Pearse Doherty's point about the wider context, which is why we have been calling consistently for progress on the Gambling Control Bill 2018 to deal with problem gambling. The industry needs to play a full part in dealing with such issues because problem gambling can destroy lives. However, that is not the subject of this discussion.

Whenever the Minister proposes a tax increase, I imagine vested interests, including those directly affected, make arguments to him on its likely impact. He has to assess whether they are crying wolf or whether what they are saying is borne out by the evidence. That is a judgment we have to make, too. We must assess the information and feedback we are getting. It is my judgment that the change will have serious consequences for the independent bookmaker sector. Bookmakers have opened their books to many of us and we have examined financial statements.

By its nature, a turnover tax is crude, but that is the model that has been in place for some time. The sector has proposed a gross profits tax. From the bookmakers' perspective, the proposal has been fully costed and is supported generally across the industry. They submit the view that such a tax would be likely to bring in more money than the projected yield from the Minister's change under the Bill, which is in the region of €40 million in 2019 and just over €50 million in a full year.

These claims need to be evaluated thoroughly. The sector contests many of the claims the Minister has made, including on Committee Stage, about its engagement in the period during which this issue has been discussed. However, all of that is academic at this point. We are at the eleventh hour and there is a proposal contained in the Finance Bill. We have an amendment, No. 21, which seeks the making of an economic impact assessment of the change on the independent bookmaker sector. Given that the first stream of payments of betting duty in 2019 will be in April, is there any window of opportunity to conduct the assessment while progressing a comprehensive evaluation of the proposal that has been made for a gross profits tax?

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