Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move:

"That Seanad Éireann:considers the National Lottery one of the most valuable resources owned and funded by the Irish people;
understands that the National Lottery Licence which is held by An Post National Lottery Company is due to expire in 2013;
notes the legislative intent of the National Lottery Bill 2012 and notes the decision of the Government to conduct a competitive process for award of the sale of a licence to operate the National Lottery over a 20 year period;
welcomes the proposal to appoint a Regulator of the National Lottery.
Calls on the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to:
? ensure that the ownership of the National Lottery Licence remains entirely within the State;
? reconsider the stated aim of awarding the license to the highest bidder in exchange for a capital sum;
? conduct a competitive process to award the licence to the operator adjudged best equipped to run the Irish Lottery, for a fixed fee, wholly and entirely for the good and the material benefit of the Irish people;
? reconsider the sale of National Lottery tickets via the development of interactive channels; and
? build the Children?s Hospital through a hypothecated lottery i.e. a dedicated weekly draw for a specified and intended purpose."

I welcome the Minister to the House.

As we all will be aware, the national lottery has been a remarkable success. In 2011, ¤761 million was spent on lottery tickets and ¤232 million on good causes.

However, this afternoon I feel that I am like the guy with one bullet who is being approached by 100 Apache and 100 Arapaho coming across a mountain in front of me because I have a distinct belief about the sale of the lottery licence. I am constantly fighting on the corridors and hearing, "You are not on about that again", from senior members in both parties in government.

I have great respect for the Minister. He is a most worthy opponent. I have respect for his office and his ability, but I do not respect his decision to sell the national lottery licence. I want every Senator and Deputy, or the ones who are here, to hear my arguments and make up their minds on the facts, not on their tribes. I also intend to ask the public in the next few weeks to follow my arguments about the appalling sale on a blog, dontlootthelottery.ie.

First, let me get rid of some untruths about the sale of the lottery licence. I call them untruths with great respect, but they are untruths. The Minister must open up the lottery licence to competitive tendering for renewal. The Minister told us he does not have discretion regarding whether to hold a competition for the next lottery licence, and he is correct. The present lottery licence, held by An Post National Lottery Company, is due to expire next year and it is up for renewal. This is true. Nothing could be truer. The Minister is obliged to renew the licence. The time is up. The time has come. The Minister must act under EU law and directives.

What is different this time? What is my problem? The difference is that the Minister is being a little disingenuous with this information. What is different is that the Minister has decided to sell the licence while he is at it. Nobody asked him to sell it. Nobody told him to sell it. His Department decided to sell it all on its own. Renewal does not mean sale. Renewal is not sale; sale is sale. Would Deputies and Senators stop arguing it as it is completely untrue? I will interrupt anyone who refers to a sale as though he or she was talking about renewal during the debate.

The Minister is hiding the sale behind renewal and confusing the issues. It is very clever. The Minister is using the renewal process to push through a sale of the lottery licence to the highest bidder for ¤500 million up-front to build the national children's hospital. If the Minister was not selling and looking for this ¤500 million up-front, An Post would be reinstated because its running of the national lottery has been unmatched. However, the Minister is selling. An Post does not have ¤500 million - neither do I and neither does anybody else in Ireland - and the Minister must sell elsewhere. Let us get ready because the swagmen, the loot men and booty men are on the way.

"So what?", they argue, stating that the Minister has assured them all that good causes funded by the lottery will be ring-fenced, held unmoved, rigid forever, despite the new sale. Every Deputy in the country has asked whether the good causes, the retailers and the 108 administrative jobs will be protected. All will be protected, they are told, but this is not the question. The question is why are we selling the lottery licence for ¤500 million for 20 years. I do not know anybody who gives one ¤500 million and walks away. What do the swagmen get for ¤500 million?

I believe they are swagmen because they are private sector firms and consortia, gaming and gambling organisations, global players such as Tatts Group, GTECT corporation which is a subsidiary of Lottomatica, and Camelot which is owned by the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. These only make big money bids for assets if they think they can make bigger money down the line.

If I rang up the Minister and said that I am Camelot, Tatts or GTECT, I have ¤500 million and I am interested in investing in the lottery licence because I am cash rich because of pension funds elsewhere, I could make a bid, but my big question is what is in it for me. The Minister would tell me there is a significant payback. "What is it?", I would ask, since the lottery, as run by An Post, seems very tied up - 54% on prizes, 31.5% on good causes and 14% on administration, agents and commission - and there is very little left over. The payback is that I would open interactive sales and gambling online. The Minister may impose certain legal restrictions, boundaries and taxes, but he and I know that it is the greatest cash cow. Even with restrictions, there is a significant profit over 20 years. My response would be, "That sounds like a good deal, I will be back to you.". Why else would the swagman give us ¤500 million? What they will get is the opening up of online gambling. I need not tell anybody here the danger of that. They need only take a look at the "Prime Time" report by Mr. Joe O'Shea two weeks ago on this very topic.

At present in Ireland gambling online is available to a very limited extent and the National Lottery Act 1986 restricts online players to Republic of Ireland residents. However, we, through legislative changes, will open this up. We will pay ¤500 million for it and the swagmen, who have already met the Minister, will get the money. No amount of emotional pleading on my part will possibly stop that.