Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Let us be clear about this. A gaming licence is issued by the Revenue Commissioners. I want the Minister of State to be clear that this is no licence - and I use the term in a neutral sense - or no permission to operate gaming machines in contravention of Part III of the 1956 Act. The Minister of State is providing for new limits on the stakes that can be used for gaming machines, and the amount that can be won on them. Dáil Éireann in its wisdom has reduced that, and I support this decision. We are in a different situation, however, because I am not getting clarity from the Minister of State as to whether any of these machines can be operated in an amusement hall unless the local authority has adopted a resolution under the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956. I must have some clarity on this. Either what is happening in O'Connell Street and on the quays and on the road out to the airport is permissible on foot of these licences or it is not. The proprietors of these establishments have, to my certain knowledge, gone before unsuspecting District Court judges and waved their licences from the Revenue Commissioners in front of their noses. By doing so, they have completely circumvented the provisions of Part III of the 1956 Act. Is it the understanding of the Department and the Minister of State that Part III of the Act still operates whereby unless the local authority for the area - be it Limerick, Dublin, Cork or wherever - has adopted a resolution under the that Part, gaming machines in amusement halls are unlawful in that local authority area? If that is the Minister of State's understanding, it seems to me that the Bill is being presented on the basis that all of those premises are currently operating unlawfully.