Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 45:

In page 27, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:
"(a) after section 22, by inserting the following:"22A. Section 22 does not apply to a lottery held under section 27 or 28.",(b) in section 27(2), by substituting for paragraph (b) the following:"(b) the total value of the prizes shall not be more than €5,000 or such other amount that, for the time being, stands specified inlieu of that amount in regulations made by the Minister;".".

The two sections of the Bill to which these amendments relate deal with the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 which is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality who has asked me to propose these amendments. While they are not a necessary part of this legislation I have agreed to his request to incorporate them.

These amendments relate to section 22 of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 as applied by section 33(1) of the National Lottery Act 1986. This Bill makes changes to the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, which changes are contained in sections 51 and 52 of the Bill as initiated. The aim now is to group all of the changes being made to the Gaming and Lotteries Act into one section. In this process, we lose one section from the Bill. All the changes to the 1956 Act will now be in section 51. Under the substance of the old section 51, the 1956 Act as enacted prohibited the advertising of lotteries. In 1986, this position was modified by section 33(1) of the National Lottery Act 1986 which stated that the ban did not apply to lotteries held under sections 27 and 28 of the 1956 Act. We wish to continue this approach in the current legislation when enacted. We are repealing the 1986 Act, thereby in effect returning to the position as pertained pre-1986. However, section 51 of this Bill as initiated restores the position to that in force since the original National Lottery Act of 1986.

The Parliamentary Counsel has recommended that we have a separate section in the 1956 Act, namely, section 22A. The first amendment to section 52 is to preserve the effect of the now deleted section 51 which concerns the restriction of section 22 of the 1956 Act, namely, to ensure that charitable lotteries continue to be exempt from the general prohibition on the advertising of lotteries. These amendments relate to private charitable lotteries conducted under sections 27 and 28 of the 1956 Act. The maximum weekly prize for lotteries held under section 27 is being increased from €3,000 as set down in the 1987 Act to €5,000. The maximum weekly prize fund for lotteries held under section 28 is being increased from €20,000, as set down in the 2002 Act, to €30,000. These changes are being made to afford the operators of private charitable lotteries the flexibility to increase the total value of their weekly prize funds if they so wish.

As has been the case since 1986, it will remain open to the Minister for Justice and Equality to alter these levels in the future by way of regulations. However, the new section 28A sets out for the first time the matters to be taken into consideration by that Minister in making such regulations. This is being done to comply with recent constitutional jurisprudence regarding the amending of primary legislation by secondary legislation, which requires that the relevant factors to be considered in making such amendment be set out in primary legislation.