Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

First, I welcome the Minister of State's decision to bring forward amendments in the Seanad. This is a very important Bill. The reason it did not get the scrutiny it needed in the justice committee is that no one thought charities or sporting organisations would be covered. People view gambling as online gambling, betting shops and in-person gambling. They do not look at the GAA, sporting organisations, schools or a hospice. They see people going into a betting office or on their phones gambling online.

There was some confusion about when discussions will take place on advertising and the watershed from 5.30 p.m. to 9 p.m. I do not think anyone on the committee realised that this was going to be a consequence of the Bill. These points are not aimed at the Minister of State personally. In the south-west region, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul raffled a car worth roughly €31,000 last year or early this year. That car was sponsored by the Tomar Trust, which was set up by Tom Cavanagh, God rest his soul. He was a great philanthropist but a very private man. Since he passed, the charity he set up has continued to donate funding to really good causes. The trust put up a car worth €31,000. Is it the case now that the Society of St. Vincent de Paul cannot advertise as a result of this legislation? It is not just that one case. We have the Marymount Hospice in Cork, which gets the majority of its money through fundraising. The Government should be providing that funding. It should not be up to people to go out and fundraise for people who are in the hospice or in palliative care, and their families. Another car was raffled last year. I think Cogans of Carrigaline sponsored that. We have big companies coming in behind good charities.

As I raised last week, another example is the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, which raffled a car. Without fundraising, where will all these good and decent charities that are doing tremendous work get funding?

Children's Health Foundation in Dublin raises money for children in Crumlin, Temple Street, Tallaght and Connolly hospitals, and it has to fundraise. I know that no hospital is being built. We can ask any of the families who have children in those hospitals. Without support and fundraising, those hospitals could not offer lifesaving services to those children.

Cork Women's Soccer had a draw for a car. As everyone knows, female sports have always been second-class activities in this country when compared with the men's and boys' sports. Here was an initiative to put forward a car to raise money so there would be a centre for women and girls in Cork to allow them to develop their skills. That organisation is not going to get money from central government. Who is going to fund it? The FAI does not have the money to do so. Such groups have to organise raffles. If the Bill goes forward in its current form, are all these organisations and groups going to be able to run a draw?

Mr. Vincent Ahern in my own club runs a lottery. I should declare that I won €25 in the lottery last Sunday night. I did not win the jackpot but my ticket was pulled out of the hat.

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