Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understand what the Minister of State is saying but I back up Senator Craughwell on this point. The Minister of State mentioned that the Bill is due to be drafted so it is not yet at drafting stage. None of us can predict when the next election will take place but if the Bill is scheduled for the end of the year and we are getting into election territory, we can be pretty sure it will not happen.

We have the announcement of a budget in October, followed by the Finance Bill and the Social Welfare Bill.

Senator Maurice Cummins and others, in particular Senator Michael D'Arcy, being from Wexford, will be aware of the work of Aiséirí in dealing with the issue of gambling addiction. The report it published in 2011 looked at the issue of under-age gambling. I am not talking about betting but gambling, which is specific and missing from the Bill. I do not have many concerns about this one legislation; the problem I have is that we were told this would be done in conjunction with a gambling Bill. We were told a code of conduct would be brought forward, like the one overseen by the Gambling Commission in England, whereby parents could be advised how to block things such as the ones going through to Senator Mary Ann O'Brien's phone, although she is well able to deal with the matter.

We need proper advice on how we can levy the gambling industry. A 1% levy was proposed in 2013, with the money to be used in areas such as education, treatment and research, but that is all gone now. For me, the betting tax Bill is really about providing a level playing pitch in the case of on-course, online and shop betting. There is no other great distinction within it, apart from deciding who can have licences and so on. The really important issue is how we protect people. Senator Maurice Cummins spoke about kids growing up with the tote in Shelbourne Park or Dundalk and actually putting on a bet. What the tote wants to happen is for this kid of ten or 11 years to win a bet and say, "Fantastic; I have put down €1 and won €20." That is how this is triggered in somebody's mind and he or she will then always associate it with gambling through their adult life and it is much more difficult when they are earning money.

We also need to look at what we are losing in revenue terms by not properly regulating the sector. If someone goes to a private gaming club around the corner from here and puts on a bet, he or she will pay at a rate of 23%; the same applies in a gaming arcade. If he or she were to do the same online, however, he or she would pay zero. There is no control, no regulation and no help available, bar that from groups such as Aiséirí which is doing work on behalf of the Government, but the problem is getting worse. In the political cycle we are in I fear that when there is a general election, there will be a new Government in a new Dáil and a new Seanad, with a new list of priorities. With the best will in the world and despite the work departmental officials have done on this issue, from my information, it appears that work has stopped within the Department and that there is no one available to draft the legislation. While I hope I am wrong, if it is the case that the legislation has not even been drafted, it is not going to happen.

The Seanad could do something, although not, in any way, shape or form, by trying to embarrass the Government. At the very least, the amendment Senator Gerard P. Craughwell has tabled is a sensible one. We would be doing a decent service in saying that, while it might not be perfect, we should insert it into the Bill and look at it on Report Stage; otherwise, the Minister of State should give some commitment that he will have a word with the Cabinet and come back to the issue on Report Stage. We could then say we were going to make it a priority to have a gambling control Bill introduced in the House in the second quarter, or September, and we could make absolutely sure that would happen. Before Report Stage there might be an opportunity for the Minister of State to give us feedback. He knows from Members on all sides of the House that there is genuine concern that we are not dealing with the most important issue. If he was to go back to his senior colleagues in the Government and have the issue discussed at the Cabinet to decide what we need to prioritise, he could come back to us before Report Stage to tell us if it was at all possible to proceed. However, I am not happy with where we are and will certainly support Senator Gerard P. Craughwell's amendment, which would be helpful.