Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Section 3 repeals the existing national lottery legislation. The more I listen to the Minister the more convinced I am of my view. We were all aware that the licence was due for renewal and that it was necessary to go through that procedure. However, the Minister is availing of this as an opportunity to fundamentally change the model of the national lottery. We will discuss the regulator at a later stage in this debate. The fact that the Minister has been removed from the equation and a regulator is being introduced underscores yet again the private for profit nature of the new lottery model being advanced. While according to this Government tough or challenging economic times can be used as the rationale for anything now, the fact remains that during the quarter of a century since commencement of the national lottery there has been more than €12 billion in sales, €6 billion in prize money and €4 billion raised for good causes. It has been a tremendous success story, with an incredible track record. To interfere with something so successful and try to brand that as a positive reform is wrong. The Government should not be pretending that because the licence was up for renewal these changes had to come about. This is an initiative of the Government's making. It is a move from a traditional successful model, in which the Minister and the State had some control and authority, to a privatised model.

I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett that the chances are the winner of the licence will be from outside the State. I put it to the Minister that anybody making an upfront cash payment will not be doing so for the good of their health, rather they will do so on the basis of pragmatic decisions. For those who take on the licence, this will be solely a commercial concern. Each time the Minister speaks on the issue of the lottery he reaffirms the success story it has been, which begs the question why is he seeking to undermine it?