Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Is it not the case and does the Minister not understand well that the reason the all-party committee did not get off the ground was because there was an attempt by his predecessor, in conjunction with the then Minister for Finance, to use an all-party committee as a cover to introduce fixed odds betting terminals, FOBTs, into bookies' shops in the Republic of Ireland? If the Minister understands that, and I think he does, I offer my congratulations to him for being persuaded of the campaign that I ran in this House and outside it against the introduction of FOBTs into bookies' shops because of the damage they do to feckless young people. Does the Minister understand that the purpose of that campaign was not to thwart or delay legislation to regulate the casino sector? Responsible law-abiding people in the casino sector want to be regulated and cannot understand why it is taking so long. Will the Minister tell them when, approximately, we are likely to see the publication of such a Bill?

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