James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

They are governed under different legislation, as the Deputy knows full well. We will be bringing amendments in the Seanad to exempt charities and sporting organisations, and I again thank Sinn Féin, the Labour Party, Deputy Catherine Murphy and the Social Democrats, and the Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil TDs who have all brought forward ideas on this and how it can be done. I also thank the officials who have been working hard to find a way to give those exemptions and to put those protections in there.

I want to briefly touch on a couple of things Deputy Doherty raised because they are important. He raised the issues about the premises, which I addressed last week, and the timelines. Deputy Murphy raised the timelines issue as well. These are all carried over from the existing legislation. I acknowledge that the challenge is they were probably honoured in the breach, and we are not fixed on those. They can be amended with respect to the premises so that people can raise money off site, and of course with regard to the timelines as well. They are a carryover from what is there but I acknowledge they have probably been honoured in the breach, so we can amend it.

This gambling legislation is crucial. Gambling is destroying people's lives every day. The idea that we would not pass gambling legislation is absolutely horrid and would be a failure of this Parliament. However, we can work constructively with those who come forward with good ideas and find solutions to where there are problems. That is what legislative scrutiny is about - finding the unintended consequences, as Deputy Gould mentioned, and finding solutions to them. That is what we are doing in a constructive manner. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

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