O'Donoghue-GPA row over inter-county players' tax breaks

THERE was disagreement last night between Sport and Tourism Minister John O'Donoghue and GPA Chief Executive Dessie Farrell on the issue of tax breaks for GAA players.

Mr O'Donoghue has claimed he was not approached by the GPA before their recent submission to Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy on the tax break for elite sports people, which excluded inter-county GAA players.

"Obviously any question of taxation change is something the Minister for Finance will have to consider within the context of the Budget and the Finance Bill," said Mr O'Donoghue.

"Discussions in relation to that have apparently taken place between the GPA and the Minister, but other than receiving a copy of a statement, I've had no negotiations or contact whatsoever with the GPA in relation to this matter.

"If they've made approaches directly to the Minister for Finance, I have not been advised of them, nor am I aware of any request for a meeting with me. It's an unusual situation, to say the least of it, I find it difficult to understand then where it's all coming from, how it has all progressed to the stage they say it has."

The proposal, rejected by Mr McCreevy, might well have fared better had it come through the office of the Sport and Tourism Minister, but Farrell, in denying the Minister had not been kept informed, explained the reasoning behind the route they took.

"I'm disappointed to hear Minister O'Donoghue's claims. I've spoken to his private secretary, Tony Cotter, on the matter, referred all the correspondence to him, and he assured me that he'd spoken to Minister O'Donoghue on it, and that he [O'Donoghue] had said he was going to speak on the issue to Mr McCreevy.

"We've also spoken with John Treacy of the Sports Council, and he was very much in favour. In fact, in 2002 we had a meeting with John O'Donoghue where I'm sure the main subject was tax breaks for GAA players. Absolutely, we would be prepared to go through Minister O'Donoghue if it was considered that would be more likely to succeed, but we were under the impression he was very much aware of what was going on. We put our case directly to Mr McCreevy on the basis that when the professional sports people got their tax concession in 2002, it was as a result of a direct approach by the jockeys to the Minister. They got a substantial tax break then, something like 40% of their earnings over the best ten years of their careers, and because Mr McCreevy is also a well-known gaelic football fan, we felt our proposal would have a good chance of success.

"Additionally, a couple of years ago Mr McCreevy addressed our EGM in Portlaoise on this particular matter, where he indicated a willingness to do something for GAA players."

Despite having had their initial proposals rejected, the GPA will continue their efforts, starting by meeting with TD's and Senators this morning at Buswell's Hotel near Leinster House.

"Apparently the Finance Bill is at report stage, going to be debated in the Dáil today, so we want to inform as many TD's as we can. In refusing our proposal, Mr McCreevy says he'd be setting a precedent whereby other special interest groups would then also be looking for tax breaks, but the precedent for sports people has already been set, with the 2002 tax break for professionals. There is another precedent in the music scene, where tax concessions were awarded many years ago by Charlie Haughey when he was Minister for Finance. Those concessions, given on the basis that musicians and artists offer something culturally to society, cost the Exchequer something like e37m last year. The question I would ask is this, with due respect to Daniel O'Donnell, does he offer anything more to society, culturally, than DJ Carey, or Seamus Moynihan, or whoever you care to name?"