Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

A number of members acknowledged last week when we were dealing with the national lottery representatives that there was not an obligation on them to be here but that, nevertheless, some of their answers were very unsatisfactory. In response to a number of instances where information was sought, they indicated that the information had been provided to the regulator and would not be provided to anyone else. A number of Deputies were eager for the regulator to be invited back before the committee. We should confirm for the secretariat's benefit that we will pursue that early in the new year.

I put a set of questions to the national lottery representatives in respect of online players,the protections for those who might be spending a lot and the flagging system that is in place in that regard. Mr. Algeo indicated there was a provision in place whereby people would receive online messages, followed by telephone calls, followed potentially by a series of measures the national lottery can take up to excluding or removing a player from being able to purchase online tickets. He refused to outline the number of instances of each, indicating that this information had been supplied to the regulator. I request, in the first instance, that we write to the regulator seeking those figures in respect of online players, including the number who received the flagging messages Mr. Algeo mentioned, the number who received follow-on telephone calls and the number who were excluded from playing online games as a result of the national lottery's player welfare management process.