Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Three points have been put to me for a response. Deputy Michael McGrath asked me what I have said I will do. First, I will evaluate the proposal that has been put to my Department in respect of a gross profit tax model. This proposal was shared with me very recently. I will make the point that when we engaged with the sector on this model the last time, there was not complete support for it. That support was not there. We would not be in the situation of trying to figure out how to broaden our tax base if we were not debating the levy now being introduced in the absence of agreement on how else this could be done. That is the reality of where we stand. Engagement happened and efforts were made. There was engagement on a betting charge which would only be paid by the punter. Let us be clear, a 3% change in that area would also have an effect on jobs and employment. That would be raised with the sector. Deputy Doherty has put forward that proposal in the past. That change would also have an effect on employment. We will evaluate this proposal. I am happy to report back to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach on the proposal in the early part of next year as we evaluate it.

On the second point, as I have reiterated, there was not unanimous support in the industry in respect of how any other option put forward could be implemented. On the third, the timeline Deputy Michael McGrath's amendment asks me to meet simply cannot be met because we will not have the relevant information.

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