Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

No. The phasing out continues until 2015. The first reduction in payments was effected in 2013, the second is 2014, this year, and the third will be 2015. In effect, the total available fund in 2013 was €4 million, in 2014 it is €2 million and in 2015 it will be €1 million. It will not be fully and finally phased out until 2016. The purpose and intent behind this is to allow those charitable bodies that benefited from the fund to reorganise and recalibrate their fund-raising activities to ensure they have maximised use for charitable purposes of moneys donated by members of the public, be it through the purchase of scratch cards, lottery cards or any other type of draw in which they have been engaged. I was concerned to ensure there was not an instant reduction in the funding available but I had concerns, as I said in the Dáil a week ago, about the manner in which that scheme was calibrated. While well-intended and supported by a succession of governments, it was never envisaged that it would develop in a manner that simply encouraged the sale of tickets and did not result in the charities' seeking to ensure the maximum portion possible of the funds raised from the public was utilised for charitable purposes.