James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. The CEO-designate will be the gambling regulator and he or she will be appointed by the end of this year. The new scheme will be published in September. The regulator is expected to have up to 100 employees to support him or her and to implement the legislation. The legislation is making its way through the Houses. We want the regulator in place so that the necessary regulations to underpin that legislation can be developed. Following enactment of the legislation, the regulator will be up and running, fully staffed and with all the powers he or she feels are necessary. The regulations can be signed off within a matter of weeks such that we will not find ourselves in the situation whereby the legislation is enacted but we are waiting a number of years for regulations. The public health remit of the gambling regulator is critical. It will inform every decision to be made by the regulator. There will be a social fund as well. The gambling industry that is benefiting currently from certain practices from which people are suffering will now pay into a social fund that will pay for education, research and, critically, treatment. Those who are benefitting will pay as well for the supports that are necessary.