Taxpayers are ‘funding’ top millionaire horse owners

THE founder of Paddy Power has claimed Government funding which goes towards prize money for ‘millionaire’ race-horse owners should instead fund gambling addiction services.

Stewart Kenny, also the former chief executive of the Irish betting giant, said more than €50million a year in funding that goes to the Horse Racing and Greyhound Fund ‘subsidises prize money for the horse racing’.

In a recent letter to the Irish Times, Mr Kenny said: ‘In the past 20 years in the region of a billion euro of taxpayers’ money has been ring-fenced by successive governments for the Horse Racing and Greyhound Fund.

‘One might question why Exchequer funds have been used to line the pockets of impoverished millionaire (and billionaire) race-horse owners.

‘What next . . . State grants for owners of super yachts?’

Mr Kenny also urged Finance Minister Minister Paschal Donohoe to consider diverting some of the betting duty funds from those ‘who need it least to those who need it most’.

He declined to comment further on the matter when asked by the Irish Daily Mail. However he previously claimed the funding was purely ‘a grant for tax exiles and Arab oil sheikhs’.

Racing is funded through the Horse and Greyhound Fund which received €64million in 2017 and helped fund an industry that contributes to more than 14,000 jobs and economic activity of over €1billion.

The Government receives betting duty from a 1% tax on all bets placed in Ireland which goes towards the Horse and Greyhound Fund.

Estimates suggest that the horse and greyhound racing industries, combined, underpin in excess of 24,000 jobs and stimulate €1.6billion in economic output.

Barry Grant, founder of Problem Gambling Ireland, recently made a proposal to the Department of Finance for the 1% tax on all bets placed to be raised which would go towards the treatment and prevention of problem gambling.

He said: ‘We have got one of the lowest rates in the world at 1%, in the UK it is 1.5%. We were suggesting that betting duty be increased to 1.1% and additional funds would go to problem gambling services for treatment and prevention.’

Brian Kavanagh, CEO of Horse Racing Ireland, added: ‘Ireland has the lowest rate of betting tax in Europe. In 2016, total gambling of €5.1billion yielded just €51million in betting duty for the Exchequer.’

14,000 jobs linked to horse racing