Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Question 419: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his proposals to regulate the gaming industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16097/08]

Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Question 420: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has set a date for the establishment of a gaming commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16098/08]

Seán Connick (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Question 421: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has decided on a location for the headquarters of the gaming commission; if this location will be Gorey, County Wexford; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16099/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 419 to 421, inclusive, together.

The Deputy will be aware that I already informed the House, in reply to Question No. 2 of Thursday 17 April, 2008, that the Casino Regulation Committee's report, entitled Regulating Gaming in Ireland, was now ready for publication and that it was my intention to publish it as soon as the arrangements envisaged for advancing the issues highlighted in the report are settled.

The report is a lengthy one which deals with a range of complex and inter-related public policy matters, including internet gambling, and neither the Government nor I have adopted any views on the report. Indeed, because the report in question makes recommendations that have significant public policy implications, it was clear that it would require further detailed analysis before Government could be asked to make a formal decision on introducing any new regulatory regime for the gaming area. As I already advised the House I considered that the best way to deal with the whole issue was to publish the report and refer it to an informal All-Party Committee.

As indicated then it is my view that progress in this area can best be achieved through cross-party consensus. There is a question of having key decisions made carefully here as they will have profound implications for the type of society we want to create for our citizens in the years ahead. We need to get things right with any new gaming code that emerges from this process. I want to ensure that such activities are carried out within a responsible framework that recognises the reality of those activities and the changed environment within which these activities now take place, including on the internet, but which also ensures that they are properly and responsibly managed, particularly with regard to those who may experience problems as a result of their participation in gaming activities. I believe that the All-Party approach presents an opportunity to members of the Oireachtas to contribute, at the important policy formulation stage, to the future architecture of gaming in Ireland. It is an approach that offers the best guarantee that the interests of all elements in our society are taken into account from the beginning in an area of important public policy.

Finally, I believe it would be best to await the all-party consideration of all the issues highlighted in Regulating Gaming in Ireland before deciding on the location of any new body, if such a body were to be established in due course by the Government.