Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I want to raise a number of issues. First, I have been contacted by many local independent bookmakers in Galway and across the country and by the representative organisation. Overall, looking at the statistics, there are 800 betting shops across the county with more than 7,000 employees. They are advising that this legislation represents a significant risk to them, as sales of lottery products make up 4% to 5% of their turnover. As Senator Davitt said, it is hard to see where the connection is with the legislation. It notes that the revenue and profits of the private operator of the national lottery, Premier Lotteries Ireland, have increased steadily since the national lottery was privatised in 2014. As outlined by our colleagues, the returns to the good cause fund have grown year on year from €178 million in 2014 to €289 million in 2021. That is very welcome.

In fairness, the national lottery has had a fair run. According to the statistics on the lucky number bets, 95% of the players bet on four numbers or less. As Senator Davitt alluded to, the average stake is 85 cent. The reality is that working-class people and many of those who I represent want to make a small investment and they are entitled to do so. The national lottery can cost €6 or €4, whatever the case may be. In that context, it seems evident that this product does not pose any substantial risk to the good causes fund. It should also be noted that the lucky numbers product is not advertised. I fail to see the connection. At the end of the day, when the national lottery was privatised in 2014, bookmakers were offering these markets as they had done since 1986. I find it problematic that the State would now intervene and alter the landscape for private operators that both provide gambling products and in effect provide for a monopoly in favour of one operator. It is also worth noting that bookmakers support thousands of jobs across the country and they have provided in excess of €100 million in betting duty over the past 12 months. There needs to be a balance here. The legislation needs to be looked at. I will await the Minister of State's response.