I move:
(1) That this Resolution applies to gaming licences issued under section 19 of the Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1956 (No. 2 of 1956).
(2) That in lieu of the excise duty imposed by section 17 of the Finance Act, 1956 (No. 22 of 1956), on gaming licences to which this Resolution applies there shall be charged, levied and paid on such licences issued on or after the 16th day of January, 1975, an excise duty at the following rates, that is to say:—
where the period for which the licence is to be issued, as specified in the certificate under the Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1956, authorising the issue of the licence—
(a) does not exceed three months, twenty-five pounds;
(b) exceeds three months but does not exceed six months, fifty pounds;
(c) exceeds six months but does not exceed nine months; seventy-five pounds;
(d) exceeds nine months, one hundred pounds.
(3) It is hereby declared that it is expendient in the public interest that this Resolution shall have statutory effect under the provisions of the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1927 (No. 7 of 1927).
The effect of this resolution is to increase the excise duty chargeable on the issue of gaming licences under section 19 of the Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1956, by £60 a year and by a proportionate amount where a licence is issued for a shorter period. The resultant increase in revenue will amount to approximately £3,500 in the current financial year. The Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1956, provides that, with some exceptions, gaming is permissible only in amusement halls and fun fairs in respect of which the proprietor is the holder of a licence issued by the Revenue Commissioners. Gaming is defined in the Act as playing a game, whether of skill or chance, or partly of skill or chance, for stakes hazarded by the players.