Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it is a business but it is an entertainment business without too many downsides to it. Why not regulate it properly and deal with it in a different way? I am not aware that the Minister of State was seeking to take a contribution for charity from any other commercial entertainment activity or business but if he wants to do that, he should do so in a reasonable way. Can he tell me another commercial activity where the Government came along and said it was taking 25% of its proceeds to go to charity? I do not think that he would do that in any other area. The problem is that there is not adequate legislation to define what bingo is, other than in respect of charitable and fundraising activities. There is a separate commercial activity but the law does not recognise the reality of that. The Minister of State would have been better off had he made that distinction between the two very different kinds of bingo, which is where the problem arises. What effort was made to look at how the issue is dealt with elsewhere, particularly across the Border and across the water? We would not be in this difficulty had he done so. It is reasonable, because it works in the UK and Northern Ireland . Consequently, why not recognise the reality that this is a commercial operation and regulate it accordingly?

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