Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The point about the horse and greyhound industries and rural constituencies goes without saying. All Members are aware of the economic benefits, have seen the reports and so on. This issue is wider than that and is about trying to get the Government to live up to its stated intention and to give at least some indication as to when Members are likely to have sight of legislation or a report of some kind on examining the issue of extending betting duty to other forms of gambling that I already have mentioned, as well as examining the rate. I do not expect the Minister of State to amend this Bill and increase the rate to 3% or to start over again by applying it to casinos, cards and so on. However, I do expect some kind of commitment stating that given that this legislation will be implemented, the Government expects to start that work now. Members need something because this matter has already taken too long to come to the table. The Minister of State should at least give Members a commitment on the timeframe within which they can begin to examine these issues.

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