James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am going to address this and make the point for a third time. The recommendation for a complete ban on gambling advertising during the watershed was the unanimous recommendation of the justice committee. Charities and sporting organisations have been governed by gambling legislation, when they are carrying out gambling activities such as lotteries and draws, for the past 70 years. Nearly everything in this legislation is a carryover from the existing legislation. Charities are not equated with the commercial industry at all and they are governed very differently in this legislation. Any charity or club that has been running lotteries up to now would always have to get permission from the superintendent or the District Court, depending on the amounts.

I take the points from the Deputies that the members of the justice committee probably did not turn their minds to the charity and sporting situation, but nonetheless, it is covered in this legislation and was covered in the previous legislation. That is why we have acknowledged the concerns from the Deputies that there needs to be an exemption for the charities and sporting organisations. I am very struck by the members from that committee who have made that point in that constructive manner. That is why I am proposing to bring, in the Seanad, a complete exemption for charities and sporting organisations to allow them to have no limit with regard to the advertisement ban. It simply will not apply to them. However, we have to bring in safeguards. As I have said, it is wide open to abuse if you simply give an exemption to charities and sporting organisations. Bad actors can come into the charity and sporting sectors and abuse that exemption. We have to protect the charity and sporting sectors from those bad actors. It is not as simple as simply removing the exemption.

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