Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Thomas Byrne for tabling this and the series of related amendments which go to the heart of whether a regulator should be established. For this process, the Minister is the regulator and will remain the regulator until the new office is established. As I indicated, the original Government decision on the approach to the next lotto licence was formulated at the end of 2011. We have given a great deal of consideration to all the component parts. Members acknowledged that on the last occasion I was in the House. They have not always agreed with the conclusions we have arrived at, but it was acknowledged that a great deal of thought has gone into the structure of the licensing arrangement. It was considered that for the purposes of the next lotto licence a better outcome could be achieved if the Office of the regulator was an independent body, separate from Government. While there are differing views on the experience of regulatory regimes, there is no doubt some have been more successful than others. As I indicated on the last occasion, often that is due partly to the way the terms of reference given to the regulator are framed by Government.

This is a modest proposal and it will be a modest office. It will be better not to have a career civil servant doing the job on a part-time basis, although this was a suggestion which was reasonably made, to ensure all the games are robust and the numerous licensing arrangements are adequately policed because it is a very extensive business of the order of €700 million or €800 million per annum, and hopefully it will grow a bit more than this. As I indicated, the legislation makes the regulator accountable to the Houses of the Oireachtas. The regulator can be brought in and questioned and this is a better way. A regulator is much more open to having this type of discussion with a committee than a civil servant might be. The Senator might be interested to know we are also preparing new working arrangements for civil servants to make them more accountable and free them from some of the constraints in their way to interact with committees of the Houses. This is something I want to do separately.

The Bill provides that the regulator's office will be fully funded by the proceeds of the lotto so there will be no Exchequer cost. It will be a modest office. Even after the enactment of legislation the Minister will determine the number of staff and their remuneration and conditions. There will be no incentive for the empire to grow. As I indicated, it is not directly pertinent to this legislation but Senators expressed the view there is a much broader question of the regulation of gambling which needs to be addressed. I hope this modest proposal for a regulator for the lotto might migrate into having wider functions, but I do not want to trespass on the turf of my colleague the Minister for Justice and Equality, who I understand will bring general gambling legislation and co-ordination before the Houses before the end of the year.