Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Section 44, which we have not reached yet, states that moneys are paid into the Central Fund by the national lottery. The Government then "shall", not might, apply that money for particular purposes, and the purposes are then listed in the Bill - for example, sport, national culture, the arts or health. I added "natural environment" at the request of Members of the other House, where a coherent case was made for that.

The system is transparent in that every year there is reporting of what the national lottery moneys are spent on and one can put down a question to any Minister about what lottery money is applied to in his or her Department. It is not applied to staff in the Department of Health, needless to say. With regard to the natural environment, I would envisage the funding of pathways, walks and so on. With regard to sport and recreation, we all know the fantastic investment in sports facilities as well as in the arts throughout the country. It is a fairly transparent process. One can ask at the end of every year how the money is distributed and it is certainly not siphoned off to any other purpose because under the law it "shall" be applied for one of the purposes that are listed in the Schedule.