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

Mr. Ahern and I had a meeting about coaching the other night. He does a lottery for the club every Sunday night, as does Mr. Tommy Collins and another few lads, all of whom are volunteers. I mentioned what was happening and Mr. Ahern could not believe it. He did not know about it. I was talking to people in GAA clubs over the weekend. I was talking to a club treasurer and I asked him if his club could operate without the €4,000 or €5,000 it makes through the Cork county board members' draw every year. He asked me where the club would get the money. We are only an average-sized club in a predominantly working-class area and that is gold to us. If there are restrictions on the county board draw, it will have a direct effect on all the local clubs.

This Bill is needed but, as I said last week, can we accept it with the unintended consequences? One of the first things I learned when I came up here is that legislation might be meant in the most sincere way. I take the Minister of State at face value in that regard. I tried to draft a number of pieces of legislation, one of which related to credit cards, and I thank the Minister of State for taking it on board. I remember going through that legislation and it took us a long time to get it right. That was only one piece of the Bill.

The Minister of State needs to look at this issue. Perhaps we have to go back to the justice committee because we do not want to make a mistake with the legislation. These are now global companies and we do not want them to be able to find loopholes when the genuine charities and GAA community organisations cannot. I know that gambling affects people in the GAA. I am a member of the association. Gambling affects younger men especially. I recognise that. However, I do not think that buying a lottery ticket or a ticket for a draw or raffle for a car or a house is where the addiction and gambling harm is coming from. It is coming from online and in-person gambling.

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