Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My colleague, Senator Thomas Byrne, has outlined the Fianna Fáil Party position on this issue. I am interested in the figures involved in the sale of the national lottery licence and the Government's view that the lottery has been a wonderful and extremely successful facility. As the Minister will be aware given that his party was in government at the time, the national lottery Act was a welcome innovation which was embraced by the electorate in what were straitened and difficult economic times. People asked why we had not introduced a lottery much sooner.

If I am correct, under the original terms of the Act, all of the money generated from sales, with the exception of administrative and management fees, was to be spent on what are euphemistically described as "good causes". As far as I can recall, the legislation spelt out what proportion of revenue was to be allocated under various headings such as sport and recreation, national culture and heritage, the health of the community and youth welfare and amenities. I believe this is the reason members of the public embraced the national lottery. I am of the opinion, although there is no evidence to suggest this is the case, that a secondary consideration for a significant number of those who buy lottery tickets every week is that the money will go to good causes. While they may not necessarily purchase a ticket for altruistic reasons as they also hope to win, at the same time it is nice to know that money is being allocated to good causes, even if, in reality, only 30% if revenue is allocated for this purpose.

The national lottery is essentially a slush fund for the Exchequer and has been used as such by successive Governments to finance various Departments. The money allocated under the 30% rule is allocated by the various Departments within which the various categories of heading fall. Considering that provisional figures, either from this year or last year, indicate that ¤761 million was collected from the national lottery, why was it not suggested in discussions surrounding this Bill that the Government revert to the original terms of the National Lottery Act, under which all the money would go to good causes?