Federation of Irish Sport Calling for Betting Levy Rate Increase

The Federation of Irish Sport has called on the government of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to increase the 2% betting levy rate currently imposed on all betting sites net revenues to 3%. 

The organization responsible for representing the interests of Ireland’s local and national governing sports bodies and partnerships, the Federation of Irish Sport used its pre-budget submission to argue that the current betting levy tariff ‘is low in comparison to European countries’ and should be raised to boost the nationwide funding of sport. 

Preceding Petition 

The plea from the Federation of Irish Sport comes some eight months after the Football Association of Ireland asked the government to implement a system to more fairly distribute proceeds from the betting levy by taking into account the cash raised from soccer wagers. 

Mary O'Connor serves as the Chief Executive Officer for the Federation of Irish Sport and she declared that ‘absolutely there should be monies coming from the betting levy’ to help develop ‘sport and physical activity in this country’. 

Antagonism Adverse 

In April, Varadkar admitted that his administration was not keen on revisiting its betting levy redistribution policy as it did not want to be seen as potentially pitting ‘sport against the equestrian industry’ in Ireland. 

“There was a time where the budget for sport in Ireland was something like €7 million,” Varadkar said. “Now it’s going to be €150 million and we’re going to continue to invest in sport. I don’t think you should pit sport against the equestrian industry.” 

However, she proclaimed that the current regime represents ‘a challenge’ for her organization as its proceeds are ‘going back into the exchequer’ rather than being ‘ring-fenced’ for sport.

“This additional 1% would have a huge impact on the development of sport and physical activity, not just in terms of programs, but for the provision of equipment and infrastructure,” O’Connor said. “One key aspect is education as we want the opportunity to provide education to people who are working with people who are at risk and also to educate coaches for what the signs are to look out for.” 

Compelling Claim 

Nevertheless, O'Connor asserted that the Federation of Irish Sport has put together a robust argument for raising the betting levy rate and is now looking forward to working with the Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education, Thomas Byrne, ahead of the publication of the country’s upcoming annual budget on October 10. 

“We've put a very strong case to the Minister on this issue and we're looking for his support,” O’Connor said. “What we're very confident of is that we know that the 1% will be well invested and they will get a huge return on that.” 

Steadfast Stance

The call from the Federation of Irish Sport followed last week’s news that the government of Ireland is not planning to exempt horseracing-facing television channels from a coming daytime ban on all betting site gambling advertisements. 

This prohibition contained within the pending Gambling Regulation Bill will prohibit bookmakers from advertising their wares via Irish television between 5:30am and 9:00pm in hopes of helping to reduce the prevalence of problem gambling.