Kathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Many speakers have referred to the sale versus lease issue. I want to discuss the model itself in terms of section 3. The Government is using the Bill as an opportunity to change fundamentally the model of the national lottery. While we will be discussing the regulator later in the debate, the fact that the Minister is being removed from the equation and a regulator introduced underscores yet again the private, for-profit nature of the new lottery model being advanced. The fact remains that since the commencement of the national lottery, we have seen €12 billion in sales, €6 billion in prizes and €4 billion raised for good causes. It has been a tremendous success story and has a tremendous track record. That the amount of money generated through the current model has remained broadly the same despite the catastrophic collapse of the economy and the finances of the State is an indication of the resiliance and strength of the current model. Therefore, we should not change it. To brand as positive reform interference with something that has been so successful is wrong. We should not pretend that because the licence is up for renewal, these changes have had to be made. It is an initiative of the Government and a move from the traditional, successful model over which the State has had some control and authority to a privatised model.

No one will make the up-front payment on the basis of pragmatic decision-making. Whoever takes on the licence will do so solely on the basis that it is a commercial concern. On Second Stage in the Dáil the Minister and the Minister of State reaffirmed what a successful story the lottery had been, which begs the question of why it is being undermined by changing the model and moving towards privatisation.