Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 7, between lines 9 and 10, to insert the following:"7. The employment rights of employees of the National Lottery and the contractual rights of agents of the National Lottery shall be protected by this Act.".

This would allow for the employment rights of employees of the national lottery and the contractual rights of agents of the national lottery to be protected by the Act. The lottery is being put out to tender and I would like to see An Post win that tender because it has done an excellent job up to now of running the lottery over many years. The public have great faith in the operation of the lottery. It is possible as a result of the tendering process, however, that the person with the biggest cheque will win. Perhaps the Minister will explain the criteria for awarding the licence. Will the person who offers the largest cheque get the licence or must bidders show a commitment on how they will develop and operate the licence?

I am concerned that there would be specific provision in the legislation that the contractual rights of employees of the national lottery and the contractual rights of its agents would be protected. If a consortium involving An Post won the contract, I am sure it would continue with the existing arrangements, which have worked well, but if the licence is awarded to a company from outside the country, there must be provision to protect the contractual rights of employees and lottery agents.

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