GPA renew tax efforts

GAELIC GAMES: The Gaelic Players' Association (GPA) have renewed their efforts to introduce some sort of tax break for senior intercounty footballers and hurlers.

Chief executive Dessie Farrell yesterday played down recent reports that the GPA had abandoned the pursuit of a general tax break and were instead seeking an annual grant of around €2,000, but confirmed that a meeting had been set up with the Department of Sport.

For over two years now the GPA have been trying to bring county GAA players into the Governement's tax credit loop, motivated by the 2002 Finance Bill which now allows those in professional sports to reclaim tax on a certain amount of their earnings.

A series of GPA proposals have so far been met with plenty of support, but have ultimately failed to get Government approval.

Farrell now believes the GPA does need to widen its Government targets in the months ahead, with the approach being made to the Department of Sport to introduce an annual GAA players' grant under the existing high-performance athlete carding scheme.

"Our main motivation is still to get some sort of Government recognition of what players are doing," says Farrell, "be it through the tax system or some other mechanism. We have met with Finance minister Brian Cowan and other department officials, and they've all been very positive. There are still some concerns about trying to do something through the tax system, although that's not been ruled out by any means.

"Still, we are looking at some other angles, and one of those was to go through the Department of Sport. It's still early days in those negotiations, but we're due to meet with Minister John O'Donoghue in two weeks time."

The Irish Sports Council administers the Government's athletes' grants on behalf of the Department of Sport, which forms part of the international carding scheme. Last year individual athletes from 24 sports benefited from those grants, including athletes, rowers, swimmers and cyclists, and which ranged from just under €2,000 to over €30,000. Other sports such as golf benefit from trust grants.

Those grants, however, must be applied to training or competition expenses, which won't so easily translate to team players. The GPA's grant figure of €2,000 is roughly equivalent to the tax credit sought last year.

Yet, Farrell believes it is still an area worth pursuing. "We're definitely looking to explore this area further. Part of the problem we're having with the tax break is that our players don't make any earnings directly from the sport, and that makes a tax credit very difficult. But I still believe we could get around that, and maybe set some sort of precedent in the tax system.

"Obviously, the Government are concerned that might open the floodgates, so we have to ensure that won't happen."

Most significant, says Farrell, is the fact that both sides are still highly supportive of the cause: "There is still a huge sense of goodwill towards this venture. Hopefully that political goodwill can translate to political commitment when the time comes. And I know there is still a very strong desire amongst players to pursue this.

"We did build up a lot of momentum last year, and on the actual day of the finance bill we held an information session for TDs and senators. That was very well attended, and we got something like 70 signatures of support, but when it went for debate that night it was narrowly defeated.

"So what's been happening since is that players themselves have been canvassing their local TDs and trying to increase the awareness of the situation.

"The bottom line is that players are still facing a significant financial shortfall because of their dedication towards the county teams, and any sort of tax break would at least help alleviate some of that.

"But the other aspect to all of this is that a tax break would also offset this relentless march towards professionalism. Of course, it would also leave a great legacy for the Government."