Results 15,721-15,740 of 35,756 for speaker:Pearse Doherty

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: As I see it, a person cannot but see signage for the national lottery. When he or she drives down the street in any place in rural Ireland, there will be a sign on a lamp post outside of a shop saying "National Lottery", there will be a lotto checker at the door as that person goes into the shop, and there will be a terminal sitting on the counter where that person must go to pay for the...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Ms Boate is governed by the rules that govern her office but there is something seriously wrong. I contend very strongly that the balance has been all wrong here since a private company came over and took over the contract. It is paying for it but it is also making huge profits as a result. There is a figure that screams out to me. When the State handed over to PLI in 2014 there were...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I understand that but given the level of marketing taking place, which is all within the rules, and given the increase by 64% in the number of outlets where one is able to play the national lottery, does Ms Boate have a view on it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: We might differ on that. I would say to Ms Boate and other regulators there is an onus on the regulator to refer something back the Oireachtas, if he or she believes something should not be happening, even if the practice is in keeping with the legislation. When the licence was handed over by the State to a private company in 2014, nobody thought that within three years there would be 64%...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I was looking through the list of games the regulator has approved. A number were not approved. I am not familiar with these games but I have children. I have four young boys and when they talk about prize ducks they think of little yellow ducks going around the water at the fair. It is a gambling game that was approved by the regulator. The name "sweets and treats" is something that...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: It was on 20 August 2015 and the licence was awarded in 2014.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: And the Prize Ducks?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Will the witnesses explain the subscription service that was refused? What was the attempt there by the company operating the national lottery?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I ask the witnesses to move on to the issue of unclaimed prizes. Some of this is outside of the control of the witnesses. There are serious questions for the Department and Minister about the 2014 contract, specifically the changes to that contract, which I understand happened midstream and which allowed for unclaimed prizes to be used by the company to promote and advertise the games....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Prior to that-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: If the Chairman will let me in, I will finish with this. Prior to 2014 and a private company coming in, where were unclaimed prizes allowed to be used?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: We own the national lottery. It is important that we know how much in unclaimed prizes this company is using to deal with operational costs. We do not know that. We have no transparency about that. The argument from the regulator's office is that this is commercially sensitive information. I am baffled about how it can be commercially sensitive information given that this is a monopoly....

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I acknowledge that. The problem is that Ms Boate is enforcing a flawed licence. The 2014 licence is deeply flawed, as is the process. We now have a situation where Ms Boate cannot provide transparency - I do not accuse her of avoiding it - in respect of this information. We have situations where operators are writing their own codes of conduct for sales, advertising and members. It is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Of the ten posts, how many are in place?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I want to say this, because I do not get the opportunity to do so in that I do not know when the regulator of the national lottery last appeared before the committee, but I believe the regulator needs to make her voice heard. I hope that she makes her voice heard in the appropriate manner because - forgive me for using this language but I am trying to think of a better way - hiding behind...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Okay. I will be brief. I have two more questions, the first of which relates to the proportion of top-tier prizes in comparison with lower-tier prizes. What is the ratio of top-tier prizes to lower-tier prizes? Do top-tier prizes in the lottery comprise 50% or 80% of prizes? Perhaps the figure is as low as 10%.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Let us take the lotto as an example.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: I will explain why I am asking.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: The only bit of transparency we have is the statement from the national lottery that €6.9 million in unclaimed top-tier prizes have accumulated since the current operator took over in 2014. We are trying to figure out if that represents a quarter or a half of prizes, or the majority of prizes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach: Overview of Operations of the National Lottery: Discussion (24 Apr 2018)

Pearse Doherty: Can Mr. Donohoe provide a rough indication? Is it half or is it-----