Results 4,321-4,340 of 10,862 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: The regulator has never sought new powers. All of what Ms Boate has just said is just her reading out her terms of reference. I have missed some of this meeting but to my mind and in any of the interactions I have seen, Ms Boate has not set out in any meaningful way how the regulator actually protects consumers and takes proactive measures to ensure the reputation of the lottery system...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: That is not what I am asking. It is with regard to the management and procedure and whether or not the mechanisms being used are actually fair. That did not happen.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: Yes. It was the national lottery itself that announced there would be a must-win draw or draws in order to-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: -----end the cycle.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: I am not talking about the practicalities of drawing the balls out of the drum.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: The national lottery changed the game to make it, essentially, more difficult to win, which is what it did by adding in an additional two balls, and then it proceeded simply to have jackpots not won for long periods of time. It changed that system by introducing must-win draws, but it did that at the behest of public pressure coming from this House and elsewhere. It was not from any...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: Mr. O'Donohoe outlined the rationale for the loan arrangements from the perspective of the company. From the perspective of the regulator, is there an issue with that mechanism of taking out a loan with an interest rate nine times above what is available in the market?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: If the interest rate was 20%, 30% or 40%, would that not be of concern?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: At what percentage would it be appropriate for the regulator to make an intervention?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: It is on the basis of financial viability, so as long as they do not bust the company, they can waste money. Is that the situation?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: As the Chair has said, if you take out a loan at a rate of 9% and a much lower rate was available, you are essentially wasting money.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: They could have.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: Does Mr. Donohoe not see that as a difficulty in terms of the structure that is in place?

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: Okay. The regulator does not see itself as having a role in the prudence of expenditure but just in the viability of the company.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: I find it an extraordinary statement that Mr. Donohoe is not concerned about the prudence of the expenditure and does not see any difficulty with that.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: As it affects-----

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: I will have to come in. There is a very specific question. If a regulator is overseeing a body that spends substantially more on any given product or service than is available on the market, I would consider it as part of an A, B, C of regulation to draw attention to that and at least question it. The evidence the regulator is providing here is that unless this actually creates an...

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: Essentially, Ms Boate has said that by privatising the national lottery, we have created a cash cow. These guys have free rein. As long as they actually stay within the middle of the ditches, they can go on whatever street they want. The regulator has just said an operator can spend as much, essentially, as it wants on anything regarding administration, loan costs or whatever the case may be.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: At the end of the day, the interest is actually going back to the parent company, in this instance.

Public Accounts Committee: Financial Statements 2021: National Lottery Fund (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: That is why there is a fundamental question over the prudence of that move. The operator is paying way above the market rate but doing so in a way that the people who profit are those in their own parent company, that is, its own shareholders. It is managing to do two things. It is taking money out of the company but benefiting the beneficial owners of that company through a mechanism,...