James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We had a good look at this and the original way we drafted it was complex. There was a lot of confusion about the definition of an inducement or promotion. Across the board people were saying that it would effectively be unenforceable and potentially, when you have that much confusion and different definitions people will find clever ways to get around them. We therefore reverse engineered it and went for a simple solution. If you are offering a promotion or inducement, it has to be available to absolutely everyone. Individuals cannot be targeted based on data held about them, on gender or on the sports club they support. They cannot be targeted in any shape or form. Inducements must be available to everyone. The next step would be to totally ban them. We are not banning gambling. It is a legitimate industry and therefore we have to allow an element of competition.

That is why we are not banning them completely. Promotions may be offered but they may not be targeted in any way, shape or form. We are also giving the regulator power to make further recommendations to tighten things up if there is abuse, even within that system. I am confident there cannot be a rollback because the law has been put in black and white and would have to be changed by primary legislation.

The only thing the regulator can do is towards tightening it up. It cannot be guaranteed that if one Minister tightens things up, another Minister will not loosen it, but it is not possible to row back on this legislation without primary legislative changes. I cannot envisage the House doing that. Certainly a Minister will not be able to do it on his or her own. That is the purpose behind this. I hear what the Deputy is saying but in the interest of competition among legitimate businesses there has to be an allowance for a certain amount of promotions. Such promotions have to be available to everybody, however. As long as anybody can drop in and get that cup of tea if they are offering gambling, that will be fine. I do not see the regulator handing out free cups of tea but who knows.

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