2026-02-10

163. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance for an update on the programme for Government commitment to consider tax measures to encourage gym membership. [9526/26]

Given the rate of osteoporosis in Ireland and the problem with regard to fragility fractures, I would be grateful for an update on the commitments in the programme for Government to consider tax measures to encourage gym membership to allow for strength and resistance training.

I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this issue. I acknowledge that it is not the first time he has raised it with me, despite my short time in this current role. I acknowledge the presence of this issue in the programme for Government. This question provides me with an opportunity to outline the significant investment that the Government has made in this area. The Government has now invested well over €1 billion in sports infrastructure and development in Ireland since 2018. It is worth putting that figure on the record. The return on that investment in community participation, inclusion, integration, and physical and mental well-being is enormous and it is probably not even possible to fully quantify all of those benefits. The allocation for the sports programme in the budget of 2026 is over €290 million, meaning an increase of just under €60 million, or 26%. This clearly exceeds the national sports policy commitment to double Government funding in sport by 2027 compared to 2018 levels. Our sincerity, bona fides and credibility in terms of investment in sport and physical and mental exercise and well-being are there for all to see. The programme for Government says that we will consider measures in conjunction with my Department to encourage gym membership and active participation in sport and exercise. The tax code already provides for a number of fitness-based measures, including the cycle to work scheme and the accelerated capital allowance scheme for child care facilities, but also for fitness centres, which encourages employers to develop fitness centres on site for their employees. Furthermore, the private gym sector already receives tax-based public support through the reduced rate of 9% VAT on its membership fees. It is estimated that this reduced rate saves private gym operators and gym members around €32 million per year. An exemption from income tax and corporation tax also applies for the income of certain bodies established for the purposes of the promotion of athletic or amateur games or sports where it can be shown to the satisfaction of Revenue that such income is applied solely for these for these purposes. Any income received and availing of the relief by the sports body must be used for the purpose of promoting the game or the sport. The Finance Act 2024 provided new measures in relation to sports bodies and their donors in terms of being able to elect for tax relief. Officials in my Department considered potential tax measures to support gym membership as part of the annual tax strategy group process last year in chapter 10 of the paper, "Income Tax: Tax Strategy Group - 25/01", which is available on the Department's website. This will be kept under review in the context of future budgets.

I acknowledge and am very enthusiastic about the enormous investment that we have made in sport, but this is really about measures to increase strength, resistance training and flexibility. We know that about 250,000 people have osteoporosis in Ireland - approximately 20% of women and 6.2% of men aged over 50. Annually, we see in the order of 32,000 fragility fractures, basically because of lack of strength. The estimated cost of that to our health service is €464 million annually, not to mention the pain to the individuals concerned. Given our ageing population and the challenges here, this could rise to a €1 billion within the next decade. We need to have sufficient resistance and strength training among all of our population. There is a very clear commitment in the programme for Government to develop that. We need to look at examples in other countries like Canada and Singapore that have done this. We need to be able to build up that strength and resistance training because in the long term it is a saving on our health budget.

I instinctively agree. I do not mean to be pedantic but the programme for Government says we will consider measures. I take very seriously the programme for Government and we should continue to consider these measures as well. We had it looked at last year in the tax strategy group paper, which is published. The paper said it was not possible to estimate the exact cost of an income tax relief. It said that, conservatively, the measure would have an additional Exchequer cost of the order of €65 million, or if applied to all sports club memberships, about €147 million. There were some concerns about the dead weight in tax, which is there for all to read. I will not waste the time of the House with it now. However, we will keep this under review, and I take the Deputy's point about osteoporosis and the specific health benefits of resistance training. We have some income tax supports already. I have outlined the VAT and benefit-in-kind measures. There are also a number of other tax and direct expenditure measures. To make long story short, though, I will give consideration to this when the tax strategy papers are compiled again this year. I am happy to engage with the Deputy in advance of the next budget.

I thank the Tánaiste and I look forward to engaging further on it. I know he is serious about this. However, I always wonder when "dead weight" is mentioned by the dead hand of the Department of Finance.

That hurt.

If I have a fragility fracture, I can get a tax relief on my healthcare expenses, I can get tax relief on my nursing home expenses, and I can get tax relief if I go to a physiotherapist, an osteopath or a chiropractor, but if I decide to join to join the gym in order to be able to build my resistance, I will not get tax relief. There is a long-term financial saving on the health side. I have made this case often before. We need to think about the Department of Health not as a Department of sickness and illness. We have to look at ways of ensuring that as we live longer - one of the big successes of this country is the fact that we are now living to an average age of 83 - we can ensure that we live healthily in old age. Part of that is through strength and resistance training, which gym membership offers.

Just to follow on from that question about tax measures to encourage gym membership, I ask that when the review is being done at the end of the year, tax measures for families be looked at. We see young families stuck on their phones. I have two teenagers and a young adult and this year we have got a family gym membership. It is great to be able to go to the gym together. In fairness, our local gym is a testament to the money that was invested in our local sports club, in that it has allowed that facility to be there. Perhaps for parents with very young children, that tax incentive could be given for gyms. It could also be given to leisure centres so that our young children could start learning how to swim, which is a vital life skill. I ask for a tax incentive to be there for families in that regard to set in train that really good habit from a very young age and to keep families being active together and away from their phones.

I had to be very disciplined in this role in relation to tax and tax commitments in the advance of the last budget and in advance of the next budget, given that it is the month of February. We will consider all of these matters and the compelling cases that are made. The tax strategy group paper is worth reading in relation to this. After reading and considering it, I wonder whether there could be a further tweaking, development or evolution of the policy points that Deputy Byrne is trying to advance. Regarding Deputy Callaghan's point, we have to get young people off their phones, off social media and back out exercising, socialising, engaging and making eye contact with one another again. I hope that the House can unite around measures to get people off their phones and back moving again. I take that point about the extra cost faced by families. I would point out as regards gym membership that we already have the reduced VAT rate of 9%, which is worth around €32 million per annum, be that to the gym operators or being passed on in membership fees. Of course, how we support families with the costs of trying to live healthily is the point that is uniting both Deputies and certainly something that we will keep under review.