Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The funding of the Horse and Greyhound Racing fund is a matter for my colleague Minister Smith who has responsibility for the disbursement of the fund. In relation to the taxation of betting, I have stated previously that it is my intention to widen, if possible, the tax base on which betting duty would be applied. We have a situation where bets placed through one platform, namely betting shops, are subject to 1% betting duty but bets placed through other platforms are generally not. This is because bets placed either online or over the phone are generally with out-of-State companies so applying betting duty has been difficult.

I have asked my officials, in conjunction with the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Justice and Law Reform, to look at the scope to overcome legal and operational difficulties in this area. I have stated previously in this House that any extension of betting duty will be applied on a fair basis and should not be perceived as an attempt to threaten jobs. Also, tax changes will be in tandem with ongoing work by the Department of Justice and Law Reform on issues surrounding licensing and regulation.

I am trying to ensure that we can put together a solution that is fair and reasonable, has a sense of balance and will not threaten jobs.