Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This concerns the issue of certificates of personal fitness to certain persons resident outside the State. As we have seen, any bookmaker must apply to a chief superintendent of An Garda Síochána for a licence and the chief superintendent can check his history to see whether he has behaved well in the past and is a fit person to hold a licence.

This section relates to people who are resident outside the State, whose application for a licence must be made to the Minister for Justice and Equality. Some instances in this regard have been brought to my attention, where some remote operators took a bet from a person, but stopped paying him winnings because there was a gamble on a particular horse or dog. They refused to pay him and had him investigated by the authorities in England. This man was cleared of any offence but his name had been dragged through the mud and his payments stopped until he was cleared. In a normal situation where such an incident occurred and an objection to a licence was made to the chief superintendent, I am sure it would be upheld by the superintendent. However, in this particular case, the people affected must apply to the Minister.

What is the situation in regard to objections to licences being granted to people like this? In the case to which I have referred the person in question has brought the matter to a superintendent close to the head office of the operator and also brought it to the attention of Customs and Excise. He does not want a situation where the person can renew his licence without apologising and making reparation to him for the grievous wrong done to him. In the case of objections to such licences, what happens in the case of an objection. The licensee must apply for a renewal of a licence and must advertise within 14 days, in two newspapers, that he is applying for a licence. What happens with the objection? Where does it go and what is the situation as a result?