Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

This amendment proposes a scheme of annual tax credits for elite amateur sports persons who are resident in the State. The tax credit of €2,000 would be used against the person's non-sport income since, being amateurs, they do not have income arising directly from the sport itself. This proposal for a tax credit for elite amateur sports persons has been promoted by the Gaelic Players Association whose members are not paid in respect of their direct participation in Gaelic games. In effect, it means that the taxpayer should subsidise certain amateur sports persons when their own organisations are unwilling to do so. This is the nub of the matter.

This matter has been discussed at great length on both Committee and Report Stages in the Lower House. I have made my views very clear in those debates and I welcome the opportunity to restate them before this House. As regards the GAA in particular, I should emphasise that this Government has made substantial sums of money available to the GAA at national and local level for the development of facilities which provide the appropriate arenas in which these great national games are played. The GAA has also been exempt from income tax for the past 75 years, since 1928. That special relief should not be overlooked by those seeking additional tax concessions.

In the past two years alone this one organisation has been allocated no less than €68 million in Exchequer funding, including €1.5 million a year of current funding for the governing body. I am not just talking about the Government funding for Croke Park, in respect of which I took more than my fair share of criticism, but for a whole range of GAA facilities the length and breadth of the country that have been built with assistance from the sports capital programme administered by my colleague, the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism. The record shows that no Government has ever been as generous to Irish sport as the current Administration.

I am fully conscious and appreciative of the efforts of GAA players at the top level. As a lifelong supporter of Gaelic games, I am well aware of the pleasure and benefits followers derive from the efforts of players wearing club and county colours. In my view, it should be a matter of pride to put on a county jersey and not a matter of monetary calculation. Many amateurs in all walks of life have been honoured to represent their country many times at their own expense.

I have previously said that over the years the needs of players were often neglected and it is shameful that only in recent times have players' concerns been heard. The GPA is to be complimented for its role in that regard. However, the provision of a new tax credit for each player, as recognition of the efforts of the GAA players, is an entirely different matter. The GPA's argument seems to be that because the GAA refuses to pay the players for participation in the games or even to reimburse them adequately for legitimate expenses incurred directly as a result of the players' involvement in games and training sessions, the Government — that is, the taxpayer — should pick up the bill. It is not an argument with which I can agree under any circumstances.

I noted with interest official comments reported recently in the media from the GAA in support of the GPA's submission. It is ironic that while the GAA regards the GPA as some form of maverick group with suspect motives that it has kept at arm's length, it has no problem in issuing edicts of support for this same group when it appears that the Government could be the solution to the thorny question of pay for play. The GPA problem is a GAA problem. It is not my intention that individual players should now be given generous tax exemptions to compensate for the difficulties of the GAA on this issue. The resolution of the problem of player compensation is a matter for the GPA and the GAA, not for the GPA and the Government.

The proposed tax credit of €2,000 per annum per sports person is more than the total tax credit available to a non-PAYE single person, which stands at €1,520. The PAYE tax credit itself of €1,040 is almost half of what the GPA proposes be granted to a select group of players. A tax credit of €2,000 is the equivalent of exempting €10,000 of income from tax for a standard rate taxpayer.

Bearing in mind that there is already State funding for sports organisations and sports people, if it was ever considered desirable to grant €2,000 per annum to all elite sports persons, a direct grant mechanism would be a fairer and more appropriate measure. A tax credit would not benefit many elite athletes who, due to the levels of commitment and time demands of their respective training regimes, are often not in a position to hold down full-time employment.

The GPA has claimed there is discrimination in the treatment of the players it represents. Two years ago, I introduced a scheme of tax relief for certain professional and semi-professional sports persons which was given by way of a repayment of tax which could be claimed in the year in which the sports person retired from active participation in the sport. The relief relates solely to direct sports income and not from sponsorship or other income. However, the position of GAA players vis-À-vis professional sports persons who can avail of the retirement relief is quite different. In general, specific allowances or credits in the tax system are put in place to compensate taxpayers for necessary expenses incurred in the process of earning an income and not for expenses incurred while undertaking a voluntary activity.

Furthermore, the introduction of this credit would set an unwelcome precedent and other voluntary workers may well demand a similar credit on equally supportable grounds. If these players were to get a special tax credit to acknowledge their expenses relating to their activity and their contribution to the community, it would be nearly impossible not to extend this to other categories of individuals who give of their time and incur expenses in a wide variety of community, youth and other voluntary work. Many of the organisations to which they contribute are less likely to be able to meet the expenses of these individuals than the GAA can.

It is my experience that when reliefs are given in one area there tends to be pressure to extend them to what are arguably equally deserving categories elsewhere and for this reason I am not prepared to use the tax system to provide this support. In the circumstances I cannot accept this recommendation.