John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Bill is a decent piece of legislation and goes a long way towards levelling the playing field. Senator O'Brien is 100% right in what he has said. Not a Senator in the House would disagree that the gambling element of the betting industry needs to be regulated. We all know of heartbreaking cases of gambling addiction which need to be dealt with urgently. As we stated earlier, we could not support the amendment because we feel it would be better placed in the gambling control Bill. I believe the Minister of State will take heed of what Senator O'Brien stated - that there is no timeframe for the gambling control Bill to come to the House and this is a real weakness and flaw. I hope we will be in a position to deal with it in this term as opposed to the next term. I know it is a matter for the Minister for Justice and Equality to bring forward this legislation. It would be good if we could initiate it in this House. I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House and handling his brief so competently. We look forward to seeing the gambling control Bill as soon as possible.