The chief executive of Paddy Power the online and land betting group, Patrick Kennedy, crticised the Irish government on it plans double betting tax to 2 percent. The warning at the AGM was that increasing the tax would create job losses and it will be difficult to enforce fairly. Given the difficulties in enforcing offshore operators to pay the UK bingo industry may see what it is likely to face.

Kennedy claimed the tax has already extended by the former government to include online operations.

"Almost 90% of the bets we take online and on the telephone have nothing to do with Irish racing," Kennedy asserted. "It's akin to levying Google to fund the Dublin Airport Authority because they use Dublin Airport on a frequent basis."

It appears the government is using the tax to reduce revenues as the racing industry claims that the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund has been reduced to Euro 57 million this year from Euro 76 million in 2008.

Kennedy claims that enforcement was also flawed as: "Eight of the top 10 internet operators marketing their services in Ireland are not based in Ireland. They're in Malta, Gibraltar, Vanuatu and Jersey, and our issue is that overseas operators simply won't pay."

The chief executive suggested that while the company operated in a highly competitive environment it was prepared to pay tax if it was levied in a fair and equitable manner on "a level playing field."

As the UK government prepares to review the taxing structure within the online bingo industry it will be interesting to see how the situation unfolds.