Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)
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Question 95: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of licences issued to bookies in each of the past ten years; the criteria governing the issuing of such licences; the tax to date from bookies in each of the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34946/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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The following table, prepared by the Revenue Commissioners, provides details for the past ten years of the number of bookmakers licences issued and licence duty paid each year. Licences are renewed on an annual basis.

Regarding the criteria governing the issue of such licences, a person who wishes to obtain a bookmaker's licence must first of all obtain a certificate of personal fitness from a Superintendent of the Garda Síochána. The criteria governing the issue of certificates of personal fitness are contained in section 4 of the Betting Act 1931, which provides as follows:

(1) Any person (other than a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons) who is ordinarily resident in Saorstát Éireann and desires to obtain a bookmaker's licence may, after publishing the notice hereinafter mentioned, apply in accordance with this section to the Superintendent of the Garda Síochána for the district in which he has or proposes to have an office registered under this Act or, if he has not and does not propose to have any such office, to the Superintendent of the Garda Síochána for the district in which he ordinarily resides for a certificate (in this Act referred to as a certificate of personal fitness) that he is a fit and proper person to hold a bookmaker's licence.

(2) Every person intending to apply under this section for a certificate of personal fitness shall, not less than one fortnight nor more than one month before making such application, publish notice of his intention to make such application at least once in each of two newspapers circulating in the district of the Superintendent to whom he intends to make such application.

(3) Every application under this section for a certificate of personal fitness shall be made in the prescribed manner and on the prescribed form and shall be approved of and signed by two Peace Commissioners in the district of the superintendent to whom the application is made.

(4) A Superintendent of the Garda Síochána to whom an application for a certificate of personal fitness is duly made under this section shall, within fourteen days after the receipt of such application, do one or other as he in his discretion shall think proper of the following things, that is to say, either give to the applicant a certificate in the prescribed form that he is a fit and proper person to hold a bookmaker's licence or on any one or more of the grounds hereinafter authorised refuse to give such certificate.

Once a person has obtained a certificate of personal fitness, he or she can apply to the Revenue Commissioners for a bookmaker's licence within 21 days after the issue of the certificate. Subsection (3) of section 7 of the Betting Act 1931 provides that:

Upon delivery to the Revenue Commissioners of an application under this section for a bookmaker's licence and payment to the Revenue Commissioners by the applicant of the excise duty required by law to be paid by persons taking out such licence as is specified in such application, the Revenue Commissioners shall issue to the applicant a bookmaker's licence in accordance with this section. Provided that, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other enactment, any licence commencing on or after the 1st day of October, 1993, shall not be granted by the Revenue Commissioners unless a tax clearance certificate in relation to that licence has been issued in accordance with section 242 (as amended by the Finance Act, 1993) of the Finance Act, 1992.

As regards the tax paid by bookmakers, the only information that is readily and accurately to hand is data in respect of betting duty over the last ten years, and this is supplied in the table below. The rate of duty was 10% up to 1 July 1999 when it was reduced to 5%. The rate was further reduced to 2% with effect from 1 May 2002 and was reduced again with effect from 1 July 2006 to1%. Bookmakers are treated as exempt bodies for VAT purposes.