Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. The purpose of our meeting is to discuss the written submissions on the general scheme of the gambling regulation Bill. All witnesses are appearing before the committee from outside the precincts of Leinster House. I remind guests and members to mute microphones when not speaking to ensure we can all hear each other. I ask everybody to use the hand-raising function when they want to contribute.

Our representatives comprise: Mr. Colm Finlay of BetXS; Ms Jackie Murphy, director of Ladbrokes Ireland; Mr. Martin Le Jeune, head of public affairs UK-Ireland at Entain; Mr. Conor Grant, CEO of Flutter UK and Ireland; Mr. Pádraig Ó Ríordáin, chief legal officer and group commercial director of Flutter UK and Ireland; Mr. Graham Ross, Ireland country manager of Lottoland; and Ms Sharon Byrne, chairperson of the Irish Bookmakers Association. They are all very welcome. We are also joined by Ms Clare Brosnan, principal officer, and Ms Joanne King, principal officer, from the Department of Justice, who are very welcome.

I have a little bit of housekeeping to do on reminding everyone of the rules around parliamentary privilege, so please bear with me. Members and witnesses are reminded of the long-standing parliamentary practice that they should not criticise or make charges against any person or entity by name or in such way as to make him, her or it identifiable, or otherwise engage in speech that might be regarded as damaging to that good name of that person or entity. Therefore, if their statements are potentially defamatory in relation to any identifiable person or entity, they will be asked to redirect or discontinue their remarks.

For witnesses attending outside the Leinster House campus, there are some limitations on parliamentary privilege and, as such, they may not benefit from the same level of immunity from legal proceedings as a witness physically present does. The issue of witnesses participating in the committee session from a jurisdiction outside the State does not have any bearing on us today.

I remind members of the constitutional requirement that members must be physically present within the confines of the place in which the Parliament has chosen to sit today, which is Leinster House. I cannot permit a member to participate where they are not adhering to that constitutional requirement. Members and witnesses are expected to strictly adhere to the subject matter scheduled for discussion today and any deviation from that topic will be addressed through the Chair.

The format of the meeting is that I will invite each of the organisations in turn to make an opening statement that is of a maximum of three minutes. I will then call on the members of the committee in the order that they indicate to me to put questions. The committee operates on a rota system which provides each member with an initial seven minutes to engage with our witnesses. It is important to note that that seven minutes is for both questions and answers. Therefore, it is important for members to put their questions while allowing the witnesses sufficient time to respond. When all members have indicated and have had their initial engagement, a second round will commence if and where that is necessary.

I will call each of the organisations to deliver their opening statement, beginning with Mr. Finlay from BetXS.