Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy de Valera, and thank all the Members who have spoken on the Bill, particularly those on the other side who agreed that something must be done. They are not, however, prepared to act accordingly. I listened to the Minister for Arts, Sports and Tourism speak about the horseracing and greyhound industries and his related responsibilities. I support his views and the industries in question but they cannot be allowed to prosper on the misery of children and parents.

The Minister said racing is a pleasant tradition that he would like to continue. He did not say he would address the situation. In 2002 the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform said he would change the legislation to bring it in line with the recommendations of the interdepartmental group. There is a complete difference of opinion here. The Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, is saying, in effect, that he is content to support child gambling.

The Minister mentioned that children are in a supervised environment because they are with their parents, but he is in cloud cuckooland if he considers that to be the case. If he were to visit any racing track around the country, especially a dog track, he would find children of six to ten years of age who are unaccompanied. What are we saying to these children? One may ask what they are doing unaccompanied or what their parents are doing. However, it must be asked what we, the legislators, are doing about it. We control the bookmakers and lottery agents but we can do nothing concerning the tote.

The Minister commented on Internet betting, whether we have control over it and whether children can gamble on it. They cannot. To obtain a credit card a person must be 18 years old. In this instance, self-regulation of children betting on-line occurs because they cannot get credit cards.

The Government must introduce legislation in this area. We cannot have it both ways. We cannot prevent children from buying lottery tickets or gambling in the bookies but allow them to bet on the tote regardless of age. That is not realistic. This legislative anomaly has been recognised by Members on the other side of the House but the Minister is not prepared to do anything about it.

I have a list of 87 contributions to this issue by Members of the Dáil in 1997. Four of them are now Ministers, eight are Ministers of State and several are Senators on the other side of the House. They agreed then with what I am proposing but will tell me now that I am wrong and will vote against what they put in writing several years ago. It is hypocritical. We are talking about children's lives. I have seen people that have lost houses, farms and marriages through gambling but this smug Government claims it is a pleasant tradition and is not affecting anyone's lives. It is affecting lives.

I would have lauded the Minister if he had supported this Bill's progress to Committee Stage and introduced his amendments there, but the Government has washed its hands of this. It means people can say that because of its failure to act, child gambling is a policy of this Government.