Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The amendments, as the Minister of State said, are technical and deal with the staffing of the authority. The previous amendments from my colleagues also looked at staffing of the authority. It is a positive part of the legislation that we have an authority that will regulate gambling in the State, which we did not have until now. There will be much responsibility on the staff and those carrying out these functions. These amendments deal with superannuation. I do not see any problem with them.

However, there is a step change intended in the Bill regarding the new authority using the powers it has. I have serious concerns and will give an example relating to what the staff whose pensions are referred to in the amendment will have to adjudicate on. The old legislation from 1957, much of it going back to the original legislation of 1931, is so outdated it is unbelievable. There was no authority to regulate it so people did what they did and got on with it. The game is about to change because we are setting up an authority, which we in Sinn Féin support, to regulate properly. I have concerns around the gaming licence for philanthropic purpose, which many of the sports organisations, charities, cancer support groups and others we spoke of earlier will be applying for. There are three different types of licence they can apply for: an "in-person" one, one "by remote means" or one that is "in-person and remote". Correct me if I am wrong but I understand "by remote means" will mean by an app, social media, a website and so on, while "in-person" will mean selling face to face. The problem is we take the definition from the Act of 1957, which everybody ignores. The definition in section 87 of the present Bill states:

A gambling licence for a charitable or philanthropic purpose may authorise the licensee of the licence to provide a relevant gambling activity for a charitable or philanthropic purpose— (a) from a premises in the State to a person who attends at the premises to participate in the activity,

(b) by remote means, or

(c) from a premises in the State to a person who attends the premises to participate in the activity and by remote means.

There is no €10,000 exemption from this section so this includes every group, whether their fund is €2,000 or whatever. The 50-50 draws the local GAA does are not allowed to be sold any more in a local pub or supermarket or even at the pitch during a GAA match. The legislation confers responsibility on the members of the authority the amendment deals with. That will mean that as you make the application, you will have to state the premises where the in-person activity is taking place. How has this worked heretofore? People just disregarded it. They sold 50-50 tickets at the GAA pitch, set up a wee stall at a local shop or went into pubs at night. That is fine. The law was the law. They were breaking the law but nobody was paying a blind bit of attention. We have an authority now which we do not want to ignore grey areas. We are setting it up to police and regulate this area. Therefore, we cannot define the lottery in such a way that people break it straight away. What happens then? In the North for years they did national lotteries, then an objection was put into the PSNI and it stopped because the law is the law. That is just an example.

I have other issues with the definitions. The Minister of State said he is happy to engage with us on that. "Betting" does not have a proper definition in this legislation. It is far too vague and loose. This is a valuable and lucrative industry and people will look at the legislation and at ways to get round it. We will be asking the staff to make decisions on the laws we pass and this legislation is clear you can sell a ticket in person or remotely but when it is in person it has to be to a person who attends at the premises to participate in an activity. That is what it says in the existing law but everybody turns a blind eye to it. Let us not set up an authority which we ask, with our eyes wide open, to turn a blind eye because of the definitions in the legislation.

There are a number of other areas I could mention but I know I am taking liberty in terms of this section.

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