JOE BROLLY: A dog’s life for referees

IN the week when a convicted tax offender will end up holding the balance of power in government for the next five years, the state has launched an investigation into our referees’ and players paltry expenses.

Michael Lowry TD is the man who the Moriarty tribunal ruled to be “profoundly corrupt to a degree that was nothing short of breathtaking.” The man who as a minister tried to double the rent the state was paying for a premises owned by Ben Dunne (as you do when said Ben Dunne has just paid for your lavish house extension in Tipperary). Welcome to gombeen Ireland.

The Revenue Commissioners have little to be doing. They are going after three counties to start with (Mayo, Galway, Wexford), targeting the year 2018.

The three areas they are investigating are a) Referee’s expenses b) Players’ expenses and c) team holidays. In the GAA community, our referees receive a match fee to cover their expenses. In Mayo, an adult or u-21 game currently gets a €40 match fee. This applies whether the referee travels a 240km round trip Belmullet to Ballaghdarreen, Crossmolina to Kilmaine (150km) Achill to Bunniconlon (170 km). These are priceless volunteers.

The sums involved could never compensate them, leaving home after a day’s work to referee a game, get dog’s abuse, then back home at nine or ten o’clock at night. For county referees it is worse. For the All-Ireland final two years ago, David Gough received the grand sum of €6 travel expenses. Or €6.31 to be precise plus a meal supplement.

As for our county players, the revenue is targeting their mileage (up to 70c per mile) and the €20 a week they get for vital nutrition supplements.

And team holidays? For amateur players who have thrilled the nation? Lads who do it all for the love of their sport and their community? Lads who work full time and pay their taxes?

If on the other hand you are a US multi-national, then gombeen Ireland is the place for you.

On the 10th of September 2024, the European Court of Justice ruled that the Irish Tax Authorities had unlawfully given Apple Corporation tax breaks to the tune of €14.3 billion including interest, arising out of two decisions made by the Tax authorities which “were not notified to the European Commission.”

The Irish state furiously fought the original decision and spent almost €10m trying to reject the money. The full European court rejected “”all of the arguments raised by Ireland ” commenting (at para 309) that “Ireland has been unable to explain on what grounds the Commission’s findings…are incorrect.”

The court ruled that the Revenue’s decisions to give these sweetheart deals to Apple were “unlawful,” they “relied on unsubstantiated claims made by Apple” that the Tax authorities hadn’t bothered checking, and that the Revenue had breached their own tax laws and principles. They concluded that Ireland had unlawfully “renounced tax revenue from Apple.”

Let that sink in for a second: The state “renounced” €14 billion. Having been trounced in court, Ireland also had to pay the European Commission’s full costs, which would be enough to pay the match fees of every GAA referee in Ireland forever.

So, sweetheart billion Euro deals for a company that has hooked our kids on smartphones made in sweatshops in Asia and whose devices are contributing to an epidemic of depression and other serious issuese (to the extent the government are banning them in our schools), but GAA referees are getting €40 a game?

The worst of it is that this attack on our volunteers stands in total contrast to the lavish tax treatment given to other sports, and also to pseudo sports owned by the wealthiest in society which are little more than a respectable front for the gambling industry.

Section 12 of the Finance Act, 2002 introduced a new section 480A into the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997. The purpose of that Act is “to provide tax relief on retirement for certain income of sportspersons specified in Schedule 23A of the Taxes Consolidation Act, 1997.” These privileged sportspersons get a whopping 40 per cent tax rebate at the end of their careers.

Para 2 of the same Act is headed “Who can avail of the relief?” The “who” may surprise you. If you are an athlete, boxer, soccer player, jockey, rugby player, swimmer or cricketer, badminton player (can’t think of any), cyclist, golfer (think Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington) motor racer, driver, squash player (can’t think of any) tennis player (can’t think of any) you are quids in. But if you are a county footballer or hurler, we will go after the miserable expenses you are getting, or the holiday your community paid for as a token thank you.

And please send us by return the receipts for your iron, cod liver oil and vitamin C supplements. The potential tax on that €20 a week is vital to the smooth running of the state after all.

It is at this point that the corruption of the Irish political system shows itself in all its gombeen splendour: Para 2.2. of the Finance Act tells us that this tax bonanza “is not available to persons engaged in sport primarily as a leisure activity or on an amateur basis.”

So, that’s clear enough. Where the sport is primarily a leisure activity, there are no tax breaks. Except…if you are a horse racing or greyhound owner. Then, presumably because of Michael O’Leary (the one who makes fun of teachers) and co’s enormous contribution to community life here, under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001, “any profits earned while a horse is in training are NOT liable to tax on the basis the training is considered to be a lesiure activity, this includes: prize money, or proceeds from the disposal of a horse.”

So, because a hurler or footballer is engaged in a hobby, there are no tax breaks allowed. But because a wealthy horse racing owner is deemed to be engaged in a hobby, zero tax is payable.

This is because, according to the Act “Prize money is an invaluable stimulus to owners and breeders which helps create vital revenues for local economies throughout the island of Ireland.” As Horse Racing Ireland’s website puts it, “Government’s unwavering support has helped Horse Racing Ireland to build the Irish racing and breeding industry into a recognised world leader from both a sporting and business perspective.” Three cheers for the Irish government. Between that and the deregulation of the betting industry, now all our kids can become gambling addicts. Hooray!

The total tax free prize money in horse racing in 2022 was €67 million. In 2023, it was €78 million. Greyhound racing is likewise outside the scope of the income tax system. In October this year, Junior minister in the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon told the Dáil (with an admirably straight face) that the greyhound racing industry is “an integral part of the social fabric of our country”. A what? Seriously? As Jimmy Cricket was wont to say, “there’s more.” As part of Budget 2025, the gombeen Government increased funding for horse racing to €79.5 million annually and €19.8 million annually for the dogs, under the Horse & Greyhound Racing Act 2021.

During the debate, Danny Healy-Rae brought a smile to every Irish eye with a rousing oration in favour of the motion. “People put their hearts and souls into the dogs. The people I know would not harm any dog.

“They would not harm the hair on your head, although I do not have much hair on my head.”

So there you have it. In Ireland, GAA volunteers are treated worse than dogs.