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

While I welcome the fact the Minister is undertaking the review, that he is waiting until July to publish it is simply not good enough. Ten shops have already closed since 1 January. That is 50 jobs lost since then. Nine of the ten shops are independent bookmakers, not multinationals but small, family-owned businesses. There are about 50 other small, independent bookmakers hanging on by their fingertips. They have been able to manage through their banks and financial backers to negotiate a package to keep them trading at a loss until the end of the first quarter because the Minister gave a clear commitment to the Dáil during the Finance Bill that this would be done in that period, not July. Given that his officials are re-examining the proposal, will the Minister accelerate the publication of that data with a view to considering the necessary amendments to protect small family businesses, as promised, by the end of the first quarter this year?

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