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

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 7, between lines 19 and 20, to insert the following:“8. The Minister shall reply to Parliamentary Questions relating to the regulation of the National Lottery.”.

This amendment also arises from the debate on Committee Stage. I presume that, at the moment, the Minister is responsible for parliamentary questions concerning the current national lottery company and the operation of the lottery, which is fine. He did say that very few queries had arisen, which is also fine. I only want to ensure that when the new national lottery regulator is in place, there will still be a mechanism for this. It is not sufficient to say that the regulator can appear before an Oireachtas committee. On an ongoing basis, however, if something did happen, there needs to be a mechanism whereby the Minister would take parliamentary questions on the regulation of the national lottery.

My amendment does not refer specifically to the regulator but states: “The Minister shall reply to Parliamentary Questions relating to the regulation of the National Lottery.” We might find something connected to the national lottery that is not specific to the regulator's office, so the Minister should continue to be able to answer questions - few as they may be - concerning the overall regulation of the lottery. It would be another step in the wrong direction to establish another body that we cannot access by way of parliamentary questions.

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