Mr. Frank Flannery:

I have nothing to add, but would reiterate the key point that from our point of view this is strange legislation, although it is long overdue as the 1956 Act is obsolete and unfit for purpose. This legislation seems to be dedicated to suppressing the charity lottery sector, which long predated the 1956 Act and was a key player. Outcome from lotteries supplemented an started much of the good causes which developed in Ireland over the past 60 years. As well as making the scratch card business alien to charity lotteries, as this Bill is designed to do, it also commercialises the bingo sector, a sector which was always reserved for the good cause part of our society.

The Bill makes no provision at all for good cause involvement in the casino, the new creative piece of the legislation and much of what the Bill does is out of sync with what has developed and is developing in the rest of Europe. We are concerned about the impact it will have on the not-for-profit sector in Ireland, excluding it from an area of activity which has been key to the growth and development of that sector and all that it has meant for Ireland.