Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 113:

In page 56, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: "(4)(a) Nothing in this Act shall be construed as conferring any authorisation or entitlement on a person licensed under this Act to provide a gambling activity on the National Lottery, held on behalf of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, under the National Lottery Act 2013, unless expressly authorised to do so in accordance with Part 7 of that Act.

(b) It shall be an offence for a person licensed under this Act, to provide a gambling activity on the National Lottery, held on behalf of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, under the National Lottery Act 2013.".

These amendments are in some ways a little incongruous because the national lottery is not to be regulated by the proposed gambling regulator under this legislation. I have a Private Members' Bill, the National Lottery (Amendment) Bill, that is specifically targeted at those gambling organisations that essentially piggyback on the existing national lottery infrastructure to make a profit for themselves. We know the national lottery is regulated but, more important, although it is regulated it also gives a social return, or, as I call it, a social dividend, to the State in a number of ways. First, it contributes greatly to the good causes fund, administered by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. Second, it drives footfall to its retailers. Everybody will know that national lottery products are available for sale throughout the country in shops, mostly small shops but also large shops. When people go into a shop to buy a national lottery product, they also buy a pint of milk, loaf of bread or other product. The driving of this footfall in small businesses across the country represents an important social dividend that the national lottery also gives us. Third, the national lottery gives commission to the retailers when they sell a prizewinning ticket on their premises. Therefore, the benefit of the national lottery to us as a country, community, economy and society is enormous. That there is so much money coming back to Ireland from the national lottery is not a point of small importance.

There are bookmakers and gambling outlets that use the lotto, for example, to offer a less expensive gambling product within their premises. For example, one can bet that a certain number of numbers will come out in the lottery with a smaller stake. The winnings are lower. We know that every penny spent in those circumstances is diverted from the national lottery, the good causes fund, small businesses around the country and the commission that might be paid to those small businesses. The problem is that the companies responsible for these products are singularly profit-driven organisations. I do not have a problem with that, in that anybody is entitled to set up a business and make a profit, but the exceptional thing about this practice is that the organisations are using what is essentially expensive infrastructure put in place by the national lottery, including all the checks and balances that come with it, the actual draw and the airtime it takes. People might have issues with what I am saying, which is fine, but the reality is that the national lottery expends a certain amount of money every year putting in place the lotto infrastructure and the safeguards that come with it. It also deals with its own regulation. For example, for many years with the national lottery, it has not been possible to bet after 10 p.m. Hopefully, this legislation will make this the case for all gambling products. With the national lottery, you cannot even check your numbers after 10 p.m, and you cannot spend more than €90 per day. There are many restrictions already in place affecting people who buy national lottery products. Those restrictions do not currently apply, although they will, to the commercial outfits that use the national lottery to make profits for themselves and divert potential expenditure on the national lottery from good causes and the social dividend to which I have referred. My Bill seeks to outlaw this practice. That makes perfect sense and it would not particularly disadvantage anyone. There are people who would prefer not to do as I propose, which is fine, but from a simple public-policy perspective and in recognition of the benefit of the national lottery, it makes perfect sense.

Amendment No. 113 essentially proposes to insert into section 65 a new subsection (4)(a), which would state:

Nothing in this Act shall be construed as conferring any authorisation or entitlement on a person licensed under this Act to provide a gambling activity on the National Lottery, held on behalf of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, under the National Lottery Act 2013, unless expressly authorised to do so in accordance with Part 7 of that Act.

The amendment would also make it an offence for a person to do that. That is essentially the import of my Bill, which has already passed through Committee Stage in this House and received almost unanimous support in that regard.

Amendment No. 114 is a technical amendment that essentially restructures section 65 to deal with the inserted subsection.

Amendment No. 115 proposes to insert a new section 66 amending the National Lottery Act. It proposes what is in the other amendments by different means. The wording of this amendment is largely lifted from my Private Members' Bill, which I fear may not become law before the election comes.

I am proposing two alternative mechanisms for doing the same thing, one of which is contained in amendments Nos. 113 and 114 and the other of which is in amendment No. 115. I recognise that they are mutually exclusive de facto. There is certainly no need to pass both proposals. What I propose was recognised by the last Minister for public expenditure as good public policy. In fact, he may have written directly to the Minister of State, Deputy Browne, on this issue, proposing that such an instrument be put in place. I understand the current Minister sees the benefit of this.

My measure is slightly incongruous because I am inserting it into a Bill that does not specifically cover the regulation of the national lottery, but it covers the regulation of the very bodies perpetrating what I consider to be an offence. It is not a criminal offence but it subtracts from the benefit of the national lottery. The bodies piggybacking on national lottery infrastructure are the ones that would be subject to regulation by the new regulator created by this legislation. It makes sense for what I propose to be in the Bill and it would be in order. I hope the Minister of State will take on board my remarks. Amendments Nos. 113 and 114, which would have to travel together, represent the easiest way to implement what I am talking about. If implemented, it would be good for Ireland and the national lottery. The sports capital grants announced this week to the benefit of communities and small sports clubs and organisations around the country, including local ones that benefit from volunteers, was funded through national lottery infrastructure and the good causes fund that comes from lotto tickets, scratch cards and all the rest. We have no business allowing commercial enterprises to subtract from that fund and take away from community organisations and small clubs all over the country. We should be doing the opposite, and that is what these amendments seek to do. I hope the Minister of State will support them.