Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The funding for the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland has been increased from €200,000 to €700,000, which is welcome. Gambling is one of the problem hidden addictions in this country, and I suppose that applies to most of the western world. In addition, much of it has now moved online. In regard to the ability to hold the big corporate companies, which run much of this stuff online, to account and bring adequate enforcement to the gaming scene, the budget seems quite small. Will the Minister indicate the plans for all of that?

I refer to subhead B10. I see that funding for the Coroner Service has increased. As I am sure that the Minister will acknowledge, there have been problems with the availability of a coroner service for a considerable length of time. There is no coroner in some counties and there is a coroner's office in some counties that functions in a very ad hocmanner. Outside of Dublin, the coroner service is almost a non-professional type of organisation so I think there needs to be a refocus on reforming the entire process. I am sure most people would agree that there are problems, even those who works in the service. While the increase in resources is welcome, it is still a long way from where it would need to be to bring the kind of reform that is required.