Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will ask the secretariat to go through, in particular, the Committee Stage and Report Stage debates of the relevant legislation in the Houses when the national lottery was, essentially, privatised. I would be surprised if the matter was not discussed and assurances were not given by the Ministers during the passage of the legislation. Perhaps there was a commitment. If a commitment was given, we want to know if it was followed through into the subsequent contract. The commitment is to go through the transcripts of the debate on the legislation. Deputy Howlin brought it through when he was Minister. I was a spokesperson for the Opposition dealing with it. I have not checked the record but I suspect the item would have come up for discussion. I would be surprised if it did not. Deputy McDonald was probably part of the committee when we discussed the matter. We will go through the debates relating to the passage of the legislation allowing the national lottery to be essentially privatised. We can perform a search for the term "unclaimed prizes" and see what discussion took place and if the then Minister gave any commitments on the matter. When we get that, we can follow through. It is as much as I can suggest at this stage and it is really what I was suggesting at our previous meeting.