asked the Minister for Finance if it is the intention of the Government to introduce special tax concessions for our top international sports persons.
13.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Tax Concessions for Sports Persons.
3.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will introduce special tax concessions for leading sports persons.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 13 together.
I have no plans to introduce tax concessions of the sort mentioned by the Deputies.
Would the Minister agree with me that it would be wholly invidious to introduce another area of exemption of tax of the kind proposed by the two Deputies? Would he also agree that those concerned with tax reform should more properly concern themselves with general tax reform and not a further fragmentation of the Irish tax base by specialist exemptions of this kind?
To single out any group and give them special relief, as is proposed here, would cause major problems all round and other taxpayers would certainly feel aggrieved. I could think of a whole range of groups who could make an exactly similar case from a different perspective. One can think immediately about the people marketing and exporting who would reckon they had a better case. That is not to say I have not the highest regard for the achievements of Irish sportspeople in recent years but I do not have any plans to go any farther.
(Limerick East): Is the Minister of the view that these questions apply to paid amateurs or paid professionals?
I am sure some of each would be making a case.