Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. This Bill also gives us an opportunity to focus attention on the National Children's Hospital, which has been the subject of controversy for many years, particularly with regard to the funding required to build it. A previous speaker said the national lottery was being sold. Obviously he did not read the Bill or perhaps he read one of the leaflets he distributes on O'Connell Street on Saturday afternoons before he came in here because the national lottery is not being sold. Rather, there will be a tendering process for the licence in order to generate money to build a children's hospital. I do not see how people would have a difficulty with that, given that the National Children's Hospital is needed and is long overdue. The aim is to put a State asset to good use, for a fixed period of time, in order to generate revenue. That was one of the founding principles of the National Lottery in the sense that it was established to fund good causes.

I agree with the sentiments of the two previous speakers, Deputies Mitchell and O'Mahony, regarding regulators. At a recent meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, the regulator for An Post appeared and, as Deputy Mitchell correctly pointed out, that office is regulating a single entity and is often dragging An Post in and out of the Four Courts on spurious issues. One such issue, for example, related to vanity postal addresses. At the end of the day, the regulator pushes the cost of the legal expenses onto An Post, a company which is already struggling. We all know the service that An Post provides in rural communities. In that context, I would be worried about the creation of a regulator, for want of a better word. As Deputy Mitchell rightly pointed out, this entity will not be competing with anybody. We did not have very good experiences with regulators that were established by the previous Government, with the support of some of the Independent Deputies in the Dáil, for energy and telecommunications. We were led to believe that prices would be reduced but in actual fact they went up. That is the legacy of the last Government and the Independents who propped it up.

It is worth noting that the national lottery makes a considerable contribution to local communities. The last round of funding allocations by the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Michael Ring, blew away another cobweb or legacy of the last Government in that clubs and organisations did not have to be based in the constituency of the Minister in order to receive funding. There was a much fairer distribution of the national lottery funding this time around, which was the original intention and clubs in my constituency and all over the country have benefitted. In that context, it is important that we maintain the percentage of funding for good causes, going forward. We should also distribute the funding on a much more regular basis, annually if possible. In that way, clubs that are not successful are given an opportunity to apply again within a 12 month period. There was a gap of a number of years in the distribution of funds and it is important that those who are not successful are at least able to know when it is likely that they will be able to reapply for funding.

I am concerned about the office of the regulator, in terms of its size and cost. Reference is also made to fees that might be incurred from engaging consultants. This was a practice that ran out of control in this country under the last Administration. We must make sure, in the context of constraints placed on the regulator in the legislation, that it is clear that its role is to maintain the national lottery, to ensure it is run properly and effectively and that persons who are underage are not allowed to purchase tickets.

My final concern relates to the small shops and retailers around the country who have provided a service for many years. As an Oireachtas we owe them a debt of gratitude for facilitating the sale of national lottery tickets, as well as engaging with local communities. It is essential that the existing network is maintained and that we do not have a situation whereby a new company that bids for the licence can cherry pick locations for the installation of machines. For instance, I would not like to see foreign multiples controlling the points of sale for national lottery tickets as a way of ensuring that people do their grocery shopping in their outlets rather than in small, local shops. I would be very conscious of that issue and would be concerned that we do not cosy up to large retailers or multiples that might engage in anti-competitive practices. If the regulator does nothing else, he or she should maintain the very local dimension to the distribution network.

The Bill provides us with opportunities but I am somewhat worried about the post office network. I wish An Post well and hope that the service it provides will continue. The originators of the national lottery, former Deputies Jim O'Keeffe and Donal Creed, deserve much praise because it has been very successful over the years. This Bill is about providing a national children's hospital. Deputies McLellan and Boyd Barrett would have us take out a metal detector in the hope that we might find some coins, similar to those found in Carrick-on-Suir, in order to build a children's hospital. That is not going to happen. We must put our State asset to use and this is a good use. However, I have some concerns about the details of the legislation, as I have outlined here.

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