Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I do not accept the Minister's explanation for his decision on the 12-month cooling-off period. I presume that when the Minister headed the Labour Party delegation in the negotiation of the programme for Government, he had reflected on these matters considerably and had sought some legal advice on the matter. The regulator's term of office is seven years; however, there is the capacity for the person to serve a second term. Particularly in the context of the gambling and gaming industry, it is extraordinary that the Minister would consider it appropriate that a person who had served as regulator could go into consultancy or private work in the same area after a 12-month cooling-off period. That is not just right. Whatever the stated cooling-off period - we are arguing the toss between one and two years - the critical element is that in the terms of the contract signed and agreed between the State and the person who will take up the position of regulator, the terms and conditions are fully expressed and understood. One cannot compel a person to become the regulator. A person will enter into that role of his own free will and volition. I am astonished at the answer the Minister gave me. Does this mean the programme for Government commitment to a two-year cooling-off period is now off the table? Has the Minister ditched that provision as a general principle?

I do not accept the Minister's point. It displays very poor judgment, if I may say so, on his part. What the public will hear about this legislation are clear messages on the children's hospital and the lotto, but they will not be aware that the position of regulator is intended to have a reach far beyond the national lottery and into the industry of gambling and gaming as a whole. I do not believe for a second the Minister would have any public support for the notion that such a regulator of the gaming industry could, just 12 months after leaving the employment of the State, go into consultancy or some other private role within that industry. I am very alarmed at that. I ask the Minister to reconsider his position. That should be easy enough for the Minister as, after all, he signed up to this commitment in the programme for Government. Of all the things I have heard today, this alarms me the most. As the Minister is responsible for reform in the public sector, he is so eager for reform that we have this new departure for the national lottery. I think a two-year cooling-off period is by every means proportionate, and not just proportionate but absolutely necessary for public confidence in this regulatory office.