Results 1,741-1,760 of 7,789 for speaker:James Browne

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2024)

James Browne: Amendment No. 262 inserts a new section 151 into the Bill to put an obligation on all licensees to not unreasonably withhold a payment of winnings. Unfortunately, I cannot accept amendment No. 263 in the names of Senators Ruane and Higgins as the matter is sufficiently addressed by sections 157 and 158 which oblige licensees to train their staff to an authority approved standard on these...

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2024)

James Browne: Will the Senator give me time to respond?

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2024)

James Browne: The only person who should be ashamed here this evening is Senator McDowell. He has made outrageous allegations against my good name, the officials in the Department of Justice and the Government, effectively accusing people of being bought and paid for with no evidence whatsoever. It is a shameful thing to come in here and make an accusation with zero evidence.

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2024)

James Browne: Listen back to your own transcript.

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2024)

James Browne: Listen back. Let me respond. I did not interrupt you.

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2024)

James Browne: It is absolutely shameful.

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2024)

James Browne: What you have tried to do in here is to relitigate your own failings to regulate the gambling industry when you were in a position to do so on several occasions, and you did not do so.

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (2 Oct 2024)

James Browne: You did not do so. This section is here for a particular reason. We sought to ban inducements but to allow promotions, as the Oireachtas committee did not propose the banning of promotions in the gambling industry. I have amendments here from both sides. Some are saying I have gone too far, and others say I am not going far enough. People are entitled to make legitimate arguments and...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: Road Traffic Offences (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy for his very important question about the number of scramblers that have been seized. As the Deputy will know, the law changed in this regard to allow scramblers to be seized. A sum of €190,000 was allocated to assist approved projects in 2022 and 2023 and almost €149,000 has been allocated for 2024 to help seize scramblers. The total number of scramblers...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: The number of gardaí in the area has increased by 9% since the end of 2015. We are carrying out a recruitment process in Templemore for An Garda Síochána and this has sped up significantly, with a significant number of gardaí graduating from there. There is a challenge with Garda numbers but as the numbers increase I have no doubt additional gardaí will be assigned...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: I condemn the incidents of crime outlined by Deputy Murnane O'Connor. They are absolutely outrageous and I have no doubt An Garda Síochána will leave no stone unturned in investigating these criminal activities. There is an excellent chief superintendent in Anthony Pettit, who is originally of the Wicklow-Wexford division. No doubt the chief superintendent would very much...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter on the number of gardaí, as well as Garda staff, assigned to Borris, Carlow, Hacketstown, Muine Bheag, Myshall, Rathvilly and Tullow stations. The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to fight crime and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda organisation is central to...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: Again I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter of the number of gardaí. There is a significant increase in the number of Garda trainees going through Templemore to address the challenge around Garda numbers. On rural community safety, we have the rural safety forum, which has established the rural safety plan, published in 2022, which we are now working to update. It is an...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: As the Deputies will be fully aware, the Garda Commissioner is independent in terms of deployment of members of An Garda Síochána right across the country, and deploys them where he feels they are best deployed. Garda transfers, again, are an internal matter for the Garda Commissioner and An Garda Síochána. On what Deputy Stanton has raised, I fully agree with him. That...

Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions: An Garda Síochána (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: I thank Deputy O'Connor for raising the very important matter of the number of gardaí in each district in the Cork East constituency. Everyone deserves to be safe and feel safe in their own communities, and of course having a visible Garda presence in the community is an important part of that. Everyone deserves to have that sense of safety. The unprecedented allocation of over...

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: I thank the Senator for his contribution. He has long been an advocate for gambling reform. The Bill provides that any person who provides a gambling activity whether for a commercial, charitable or philanthropic purpose must have a licence from the authority. There are no exemptions, save for the few very specific circumstances set out in sections 89 and 90. Commercial operators...

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: I thank Senators for their contributions. I understand their intention. It is important to note that charities and other organisations are already subject to the regulation via the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 where they operate and promote lotteries as part of their fundraising model. This Bill contains the existing policy and measures, albeit modernised, provided for in the 1956 Act....

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: There were concerns on Report Stage in the Dáil that the full repeal of section 36 of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 might lead to bookmakers enforcing payment of unreasonable debts by people who ran up large debts with them. The amendment reintroduces this position and retains the protections provided in section 36 of that Act.

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: This is a technical amendment required on foot of amending the Bill to provide for transitional arrangements in respect of gambling legislation currently on the Statute Book. With regard to amendments Nos. 44 and 45 from the Labour Party, the effect of the Senators' proposed amendments to section 9 was to maintain the 1956 Act's statement that every contract by way of gaining or wagering is...

Seanad: Gambling Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 Sep 2024)

James Browne: I thank the Acting Chair. Amendment No. 47 involves two new insertions in section 13, namely, the appointment of a person with lived experience of problem gambling to the board of the authority and a limit on the number of members of the board who have been employed in the gambling sector. Given the scale of its remit, membership of the authority should reflect a broad range of expertise...