Results 4,221-4,240 of 10,791 for speaker:Matt Carthy

Forestry: Statements (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: We are back in this Chamber discussing forestry again. It would be useful to commend the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine which has ensured that this has become and remains a prevalent issue. We know that agriculture occupies a unique role in Irish society. It is our largest indigenous sector. It does not up and leave when recession hits. It is an integral part of and...

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

Matt Carthy: I apologise for being late. I also apologise if I ask questions that have been asked. I have been coming in and out and I following the meeting on the monitor. What is the staff profile of the regulator’s office?

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

Matt Carthy: How many members of staff are in that section?

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

Matt Carthy: Is the regulator's role to recommend or direct the national lottery to do things differently? Is that correct terminology?

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

Matt Carthy: For example, in 2021 and to date in 2022, how many directives has the regulator issued to the national lottery?

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

Matt Carthy: The question I am asking is whether Ms Boate suggests or directs.

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

Matt Carthy: Has that power to direct been used this year so far?

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

Matt Carthy: When was it last used?

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

Matt Carthy: We deal with a lot of regulators at this committee. I am thinking of bodies like the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, and others. Many, if not all, in their annual reports highlight what they consider to be failures or lack of powers they have in order to do things differently or to improve practices. There has been a lot of debate on the issue of the unclaimed prizes and how...

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

Matt Carthy: It is 2%. It is as minimal-----

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

Matt Carthy: Ms Boate says she has released that through a freedom of information request. Why did she never highlight that as a problem in terms of the operation and what is clearly a failure of the legislation?

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

Matt Carthy: Of which parties?

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

Matt Carthy: The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, I presume, is here representing the State. Was it the intention of the State when we privatised the national lottery that unclaimed prizes would go to a marketing slush fund?

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

Matt Carthy: If we take it at face value that the clause allows for it, does the regulator consider it appropriate for it to continue to operate in that way?

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

Matt Carthy: However, prior to the privatisation of the national lottery, there was always advertising and marketing. The national lottery was always one of the most recognisable brands in Irish society. The difficulty now is that when prizes are unclaimed, 98% of that money is used for this purpose now. The irony of it is that that marketing then implies that 90% of all expenditure that customers make...

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

Matt Carthy: I am aware of that. In a nutshell, what I am asking is why Ms Boate does not make any recommendation on this. She clearly accepts that there is no difficulty with 98% of this money going into an advertising budget. Is that so?

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

Matt Carthy: Let me clarify again. The regulator produces an annual report. As the regulator, Ms Boate is entitled in her annual report to highlight potential deficiencies within the legislation. We are dealing with a situation that we know about purely because the Comptroller and Auditor General did Ms Boate's job and highlighted to us that there was what I would consider a scandalous anomaly whereby...

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

Matt Carthy: Ms Boate did that through a freedom of information request.

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

Matt Carthy: A freedom of information request involves somebody seeking information that has not been made publicly available. Ms Boate therefore did not make the information publicly available; she was forced to do so.

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

Matt Carthy: Let me ask Ms Boate this. Had the regulator not released that information under the Freedom of Information Act, would it have been in breach of that law?