Fine Gael spokesman on public enterprise and long-time devotee of bookmaking Mr Ivan Yates is in a dispute over bets worth some £6,000 which he placed with two prominent Irish bookmakers, it emerged yesterday.
Mr Yates has referred Paddy Power bookmakers and Bruce Betting to the Independent Betting Arbitration Service in Britain for refusing to pay back a £6,000 stake on two bets placed on Frankie Dettori to be top jockey at Royal Ascot.
Both bookmaking chains are competitors to Celtic Bookmakers, the chain of shops run by Mr Yates's wife.
Two other bookmakers who took substantial bets on Dettori from Mr Yates, Metro Bookmakers and on-course bookmaker Mr Bernard Healy, have agreed to repay Mr Yates's stake following the recent plane crash which ruled out Italian jockey Dettori appearing at Ascot.
However, Paddy Powers and Bruce Betting have refused to pay the money back and indicated yesterday they would give the combined £6,000 stake to charity to show they were not gaining from the bet.