Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I oppose the establishment of a new quango - the national lottery regulator. I oppose every section related to the establishment of that quango. The Government has made a great play of cutting the number of State agencies. Specifically, the legislation provides for the Minister to perform the functions of the regulator on certain occasions. There is, therefore, nothing in the Bill that prevents the Minister from being the regulator. I do not see why the Minister needs to establish a new State agency to carry out functions the legislation provides that the Minister can carry out any time there is a vacancy in the office or in other circumstances. The Minister says the last national lottery licence was issued in 2000. The Minister has said himself that the national lottery is held in high esteem and has been operated in a way that is above board and above reproach. The licences were previously given out by the Minister who oversaw the competition for them. He did not need a new quango. It is the fashion in public administration in Europe at the moment to set up a regulator every time one wants to do something new when it is the line Department that should be doing it. There was no problem when previous licences were issued and Ministers were the people who approved them. An Post won the licence then and I cannot see what has changed in the meantime.

The Minister issued a public service reform plan document on 17 November 2011 in which a great deal of fanfare was made about a lot of things which the Minister has never followed through on. At appendix II of the document, the Minister referred to the rationalisation of State agencies and bodies. They are his words, not mine. The document states:

The Government is proposing to:(i) press ahead resolutely with the rationalisation and reduction of State Bodies;
(ii) introduce "sunset clauses" when new Bodies are created;

On the next page, the document states: "In the future, legislation to create a new State Body must include a "sunset clause" ensuring the Body will cease to exist after a predetermined date unless the Body's mandate is specifically renewed". The Minister has told every other Minister that he or she cannot introduce a new regulator or quango unless a sunset clause is provided for, yet the legislation on the first quango he introduces himself does not contain one. Enough said.