Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I move amendment No. 21:

In page 15, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:
“(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2) lottery infrastructure may be availed of in circumstances where it is of benefit to the community or is in the public interest but this may only be done by agreement between the regulator and operator following a proposal by the Minister.”.

Section 29(2) provides that the sole object of the operator shall be the holding of the national lottery under the licence, and the doing of such things as are incidental or conducive to achieving that objective. The amendment provides that, notwithstanding this, national lottery infrastructure may be used in circumstances to benefit the community or where they are in the public interest. That is the point to which I referred. What is envisaged here is that perhaps at some point in the future, national lottery infrastructure, whether on the Internet or in shops, could be used to provide a service of a public nature. Examples could be the display of notices regarding a missing person or a warning in the event of a major accident or incident or severe weather.