Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

If it were the case that clarification regarding the proposal from the industry cannot be provided until July, I would accept that, but that is not what I am hearing. I understand significant work has gone on within the Minister's Department in respect of it. We welcome the fact that this is under review. I understand there has been significant engagement with different parts of the sector regarding their proposal but the issue is that bookmakers and their banks are saying there is no way they can continue to incur those losses month after month. Bookmakers are telling their banks that a change may be coming but the banks are asking when they will know that. Knowing in July or August is a bit late for some of them. We also have a scenario whereby some of the larger operators are poaching some of the best staff within these sectors because there is a knowledge within this sector that there is an issue with many small independent retailers. People who have been trained by and are loyal to those retailers are worried about their own future, and that is normal. The sooner we can give certainty to this sector one way or another, and I hope it will not be that the Government will not change its position but that it will legislate for the industry proposal, the better.

See this speech in context