Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The point is well laboured. It has been laboured in this Chamber and also at committee. As I understand it, it has also been laboured at Fine Gael Parliamentary Party meetings. I am very conscious that what I say here is restricted in the sense that Fianna Fáil Deputies are constrained in what we can do and what amendments we can table under the confidence and supply arrangement. We cannot ask the Minister to stop and refrain from doing this. We can, however, ask him to press the pause button and reconsider. My understanding of the responsibility of Government is to pursue policies that will assist in job creation. Fine Gael had its annual Ard-Fheis last week at which it claimed it is the party of jobs but what the Minister is doing with this tax increase is far from pursuing a policy that will support job creation. This policy will cost jobs, not in multinational companies but in small indigenous family bookmakers.

The Minister has admitted the Department did not conduct a proper analysis of this proposal.

The Minister has admitted that the only reason he cannot press the pause button and change his mind on this is because he is afraid that it will unwind the whole budgetary process. That is not a good enough reason to pursue a policy that will cost jobs. What the Minister is doing is wrong. To be fair to this industry, it is not asking that it does not pay its fair share. In fact, the industry has come forward with costed proposals that will deliver more for the Exchequer than what the Minister is proposing.

Gambling is a serious issue and people think that, because it is a serious issue and causes such hardship in certain families, it is fair to attack the industry. The serious gambling issues occur online which the Minister is not addressing. The areas where there is an element of supervision and control is in the small family-owned bookies where they know their customers, and that is where the Minister is focusing his attention. It is wrong. The Minister has the opportunity to be a bigger man and admit he got it wrong on budget day and say he will review it within three months, as my colleague has suggested. He will see at that stage that it was the wrong decision and he will have the opportunity, within three months, to implement the proposals that have been put forward by the industry and signed up to by the multinationals and, indeed, by the small, family-owned businesses.

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