Irish Sports Minister lobbied government for betting levy hike
Catherine Martin wrote to Finance Minister Michael McGrath asking for tax increase to fund sporting projects, which ultimately fell on deaf ears
Ireland’s Sports Minister Catherine Martin lobbied government officials for an increase in the betting levy to 3% as part of the country’s 2024 budget.
Following a freedom of information request from The Journal, the Irish publication revealed Martin wrote to Finance Minister Michael McGrath in August to outline numerous requests for her department in the budget.
Among these requests was an increase in the betting levy from 2% to 3%.
Martin had previously publicly backed the one percentage point rise in the levy, after Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin tabled the motion in July.
Addressing collected TDs in the Dáil, Martin backed the measure but said the final decision on any levy hike would belong to McGrath.
In her correspondence to McGrath, Martin said: “The current 2% levy generated receipts of almost €90m in 2020.
“It is reasonable to assume that an increase to 3% could yield an additional €40m providing long-term funding certainty that would allow sustained investment in projects that provide sport and community benefits,” she added.
Martin detailed the extra funds could be used to construct multi-sports centres across Ireland, invest in current facilities and develop new sporting infrastructure to “fill specific gaps”.
However, the Green Party TD’s lobbying eventually fell on deaf ears, as McGrath retained the betting levy at the 2% rate as part of the budget.
In delivering the budget, McGrath did note there was scope to explore an increase to the betting levy next year.
McGrath said: “Our taxation system currently provides a number of reliefs to sporting organisations and to charities. However, I believe there is potential to do more.
“To assist our national governing bodies with their capital programmes, I intend to examine how the tax system can be utilised to further support these organisations with the upgrade of their facilities or the development of new ones.
“This will involve examining the tax treatment of long-term strategic development funds established by approved sporting bodies to promote capital investment in our sports facilities. I will conclude this work next year,” he added.