Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

91. To ask the Minister for Justice and Equality if the opening of betting offices in pubs is covered under the Betting Act 1931. [6164/15]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

General provisions relating to the control and regulation of bookmaking and betting are set out in the Betting Act 1931, as amended. This legislation prohibits a person from carrying on business or acting as a bookmaker without a licence issued by the Revenue Commissioners. Applicants for such licences must submit a certificate of personal fitness issued by a Superintendent of the Garda Siochana and be tax compliant. A certificate of suitability of premises, also issued by the Garda Siochana, is required by applicants engaged in off-course bookmaking activity.

Section 11 of the 1931 Act sets out the grounds for refusal of a certificate of suitability of premises. As regards the suitability of licensed premises, section 11 includes a specific refusal ground which remains in force, i.e. where the application for a certificate is in respect of premises which did not prior to 28 July 1926 form part of premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor, that the applicant is the holder of a licence for the sale of intoxicating liquor. With the exception of premises forming part of licensed premises prior to 28 July 1926, section 17(2) of the Licensing Act 1872 prohibits the carrying on of betting activities on licensed premises.