Paddy Power, Ireland's largest bookmaker, said the Irish government will put the jobs at risk, if it taxes internet and phone betting. The Financial Times reported Paddy Power has second thoughts regarding the place where the­y invest because the Irish government tax plan would cost the bookmaker $5 million more annually.

Paddy Power officials said the company was targeting an additional 750 jobs in the next three years, but now it will have to rethink their strategy, due to the tax risk. “We don’t have an issue with paying betting taxation. Our issue is if we have to pay it solely because we employ people in Ireland,” Patrick Kennedy, chief executive, said. “There is a genuine risk that if the government introduces a tax that creates an unlevel playing field, those jobs don’t come to Ireland”, Patrick Kennedy added.

In the last months, Paddy Power registered a 52 percent rise in UK customers up to 344,000. Their shares increased to €26.46.