Results 4,261-4,280 of 10,791 for speaker:Matt Carthy

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,...

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

Matt Carthy: That is probably an indication of how much it is spending on advertising as much as anything else.

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

Matt Carthy: If that is the big achievement of the year, that the regulator has managed to call up the fact the operator was advertising a jackpot online the day after the jackpot had been won, it is minimal in terms of the-----

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

Matt Carthy: -----bigger issues that have been raised at today's meeting for which no action has been taken.

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

Matt Carthy: Has the regulator ever done that?

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

Matt Carthy: When was the last time the regulator refused a game?

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

Matt Carthy: Has it been done this year?

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

Matt Carthy: Maybe if we put in a freedom of information request, we will find out.

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

Matt Carthy: I apologise to the Chair for going off on a tangent. I agree that additional free tickets create a player protection issue but would free tickets, as a principle, not create the same issue? Should we not withdraw them entirely?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: On the RTB, I agree with the Comptroller and Auditor General that we should seek clarification, as he has suggested. The non-compliant procurement relates to a business process that costs €2.277 million for a year. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: Is there any reason for this? I am looking at the original five-year period where the total cost was €5.681 million-----

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (24 Nov 2022)

Matt Carthy: That works out at approximately €1.1 million per annum, yet for this one year without any procurement, we are looking at well over €2 million.