Peter Chap Cleere

So the report I've commissioned is that if we put a cap in terms of the memberships combined of two and a half thousand, that would mean the most an individual person could get back in a calendar year would be 20 percent of that, which would be 500 euro.

So you'd claim this back then at the end of the year, like you do with your GP visits or your your medical treatments, dental and so on.

Is that how it would work?

Absolutely.

So what happened, Clare, you take my own situation and I'm married with four kids and my kids will be involved in GA and swimming and soccer and all sorts of sports.

So as a family, you would add up all your sporting memberships over the course of a calendar year.

And similar to your medical receipts returned at the end of the year, you would send in your return and you would get a rebate based on your actual spend up to a maximum of 500 euros.

So I think a lot of people would welcome it in principle, but when you think about it, there might still be a barrier to entry there because you have to speculate the money and then you get it back at the end of the year and people mightn't just have it.

Would it not make more sense to do an intervention at the point of paying so that the gyms or the clubs would be able to charge reduced fees to families so it's easier to sign up in the first place?

think that's a very fair point uh claire but my number one priority is trying to make sure that uh the the there's provision made in the budget 2027 for this to be put in place in terms of the actual mechanics and how it works uh i'd be very flexible on it but for me it would be very simple uh given the system that's currently in operation uh to just add sporting memberships very similar to your medical side of things if you are a payee worker at the moment

you can during the course of a year you can actually once you've spent let's say 500 euro on a gym membership you can put in your application and get your rebate straight away so if you're a PAYE worker that option is available to you but for me the simplest way would be over the course of a year add up your memberships and you get a rebate back then similar to your medical expenses

A listener says you can walk or run outside for nothing and get fresh air too.

And we said that at the top.

But they go on to say that Ireland doesn't have the money to fund tax credits for this and we can exercise for free.

So it's expenditure they're saying that shouldn't happen.

Well, as I said, I did commission a report from the Parliamentary Budget Office and if the total cost of the tax relief in 2027 will be a little over £90 million.

And that would mean that every single gym membership, every single sporting membership, everybody using that capacity.

So that's the Rolls-Royce package.

I mean, the government can look at the possibility of introducing, for example, family memberships first and then maybe increasing it up.

But there's a two-pronged approach here, Clare.