Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I dtús báire, gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire as an sárobair atá déanta aige agus a fhoireann ar an mBille seo. Feicim gur éist siad leis na daoine a bhí ag labhairt faoi na fadhbanna a raibh acu leis an mBille. Tá mé thar a bheith buíoch de as ucht na leasuithe atá déanta ag an Rialtas. Tá mé ag tnúth go mór le díospóireacht ar an mBille seo. Cuirim fáilte roimh an mBille agus na leasuithe.

On Senator McDowell's amendments, I do not for a moment want the kind of gambling regime that is in the UK to come to this jurisdiction. Anybody who goes into a pub anywhere in London, elsewhere in England or wherever it might be can see the blight posed by those one-armed bandits to which he referred. They are a horrible part of the pub culture in England and I would not want to see that. I also agree with much of what the Senator said about casinos in a city context, but I do not agree with the suggestion the Bill is designed to enable gambling. We have been living in the absence of any proper regulation of gambling in this State for many years, and the Bill is trying to put shape on a situation where, at the same time that those casinos and one-armed bandits exist on the one hand, there is also gambling that is intrinsically linked into important industries that have a social context, such as horse racing. It is trying to pitch the balance between those two areas to allow people to engage in what is not antisocial or problematic behaviour against the fact certain organisations manipulate the situation that exists in Ireland and exploit those who have difficulties with addiction to gambling and so on.

I must say, I have missed the panda bingo adverts the Senator mentioned, but I do not want to see them either. Of course, part and parcel of the Bill relates to the protection of Irish consumers from late-night television advertising or the online advertising to which Senator Lombard referred and, in particular, to the protection of underage people. That is why I welcome the fact that, even as we debate this legislation, and I look forward to its completion, a regulation designate is in place. This legislation is going to be implemented quickly, and the procedures and structures are in place to allow it to get off the ground quickly.

Senator McDowell also talked about how we have stripped powers from local authority members and I absolutely agree, but let us not pretend that is recent. That has been going on since the Local Government Act 2001 and the Planning and Development Act 2000, when significant local democratic powers were taken away from members of local authorities, with many of them vested subsequently in faceless officials who are accountable to no one but the Custom House. I often say to people in my area that the county managers, as they were previously known, or the chief executives, as they are now, will never knock on their door and ask them what they think about something, yet all the decision-making power at local level is vested in these individuals and the people who work under their control.We talk proudly in a European context about the value of subsidiarity and the importance of making decisions as locally as possible. Notwithstanding that fact, we have a totally dysfunctional local government system in this country. Right through the creation of Irish water and in recent legislation I have spoken on in this House, we have been stripping away powers from the people elected at local level to make decisions for their communities. It is a shameful vista that has been perpetuated by government after government, including, respectfully, the one of which Senator McDowell was a member. It has happened under the policies of my party, his former party and others that have been in government. It will be a mammoth task to turn this around but it is definitely something we should be doing. I do not know whether amendment No. 2 will achieve that but I acknowledge the principle behind it in that regard.

I agree 100% that we should trust the members of local government. Councillors are probably the hardest-working politicians. They are certainly the ones with the fewest resources and supports at an official level, and they are also the ones closest to the people they represent. Despite this, at central level – Ireland probably has the most centralised administration in the EU – we fundamentally disrespect the role they have and refuse to give them the powers to do the job they need to do. I have said time and again that we have relegated local authority members, namely county and city councillors, from being actual members of local government to being ambassadors to the chief executive, the director of services or the official in their local authority. Quite simply, it is disgraceful. We should undo this but I do not know whether amendment No. 2 will achieve that, notwithstanding the principle behind it. I wanted to acknowledge that and what Senator McDowell has said in that regard.