Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

Unlike the previous debate on the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill 2005, I am glad I have the benefit of following Senator Ryan having listened to the wisdom of his views. I welcome the Minister and was glad to hear him give an overview of the importance of the racing and greyhound industry. In general, I commend Members who bring forward Private Members' Bills. In fact, the Minister, as Opposition spokesperson on justice, brought in the most important Private Members' Bill of the past ten years, namely, the Criminal Assets Bureau Bill, or whatever its precise title was at the time. As we have seen recently, it is the most vital legislation in the criminal justice area.

I refer strictly to the under 18s aspect of the Bill which I regard as de minimis. Like Senator Ryan, I did not realise the full legal position. I have not read any article or listened to any radio programme — perhaps I have missed them — referring to this as a serious social problem. I can think of many serious social problems relating, in one way or another, to young people — for example, disorder on the streets late at night, drink, drugs, unwanted pregnancies and so on. This particular problem, however, has never been brought to my attention. Some of the leaders in this House, not least the leader of Senator Cummins's party, found the title of the Bill a bit of a tongue-twister on today's Order of Business but I suppose it relates to the 1929 legislation.

I do not know about Senator Cummins but I cannot remember when I first placed a bet at a racecourse. However, I suspect it was at approximately the age of eight or ten, which is probably true of most people. I admit it was not unsupervised but with parental encouragement and approval. A racecourse is not much fun unless one is a small child running around and playing in the circle with nothing to do with the racing. It is not much fun unless one is able to place a bet.