THE HORSE RACING industry in Ireland should be funded entirely through a doubling of the betting tax according to the minister for agriculture Simon Coveney.
Coveney, who has responsibility for the sector, has told the Sunday Business Post that he would support the doubling of the current 1 per cent tax on betting as recommended by the recent McCarthy report.
The money would replace the current subsidy the State pays to the Horse and Greyhound Fund. The government is expected to publish legislation within weeks to extend the current rate to online and phone betting.
The betting tax has been reduced from 10 per cent to 1 per cent over the past 15 years with total tax take falling by almost half in the past 20 years.
