Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

First, this is not particularly new. As for the arrangement whereby State funding was provided to certain organisations that were running lotteries, the decision to wind down that funding over a three-year period was communicated to the organisations back in 2012. It is being done over a three-year period and as I stated, at the peak in 2009 and 2010, it involved a sum of €8.6 million in total that was being paid to such organisations. It was decided to wind that down over a three-year period to give the organisations the opportunity to make other arrangements, including other fund-raising arrangements, and so on. This has been ongoing for some time and so there is nothing new in that. In the course of the debate here in the Chamber the other evening, the Minister for Justice and Equality drew attention to what was happening in that area. At a wider level, the Government must ensure the controversies that have arisen around some charities in recent times do not undermine the important work those organisations do and the services they deliver-----

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