Paddy Power may quit Ireland
UP to 750 jobs at Paddy Power and Boylesports could be under threat if the Government introduces plans to tax telephone betting operations.
Most Irish phone betting is conducted through offshore centres, but both Paddy Power and Boylesports use Irish call centres. It is thought that government plans to tax these operations would raise just €5m.
It would also make these call centres "structurally unprofitable", according to one bookie's executive.
The bookmakers may be forced to relocate dial-a-bet operations to other countries if the tax is introduced. Paddy Power recently acquired a call centre in Belfast.
- Nick Webb
