What you have tried to do in here is to relitigate your own failings to regulate the gambling industry when you were in a position to do so on several occasions, and you did not do so.

You did not do so. This section is here for a particular reason. We sought to ban inducements but to allow promotions, as the Oireachtas committee did not propose the banning of promotions in the gambling industry. I have amendments here from both sides. Some are saying I have gone too far, and others say I am not going far enough. People are entitled to make legitimate arguments and amendments and they have done so, which the Senator has not done, by the way. The Oireachtas all-party committee did not propose that…

I thank the Deputy for the question on citizenship applications. I am pleased to provide an update to the House on the ongoing improvements being made to the processing of citizenship applications. Just last week, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, had the honour of attending a ceremony in Dublin Convention Centre, and on behalf of myself and the Minister I congratulate all of our newest citizens and their proud families. Processing times are now decreasing year on year. This is a result of re-engineering and streamlini…

I acknowledge that in the past there were significant delays in processing citizenship applications. What the Minister, the officials in the Department and I have done to streamline matters and introduce a new processing system with the online application form and e-vetting has led to a significant change in the processing time relating to citizenship applications. I am confident that by the end of the year we will be in a situation where processing times will be even shorter. By next year, the aim is to have the p…

Significant work is being done in the Department to ensure that all applications, be they in respect of citizenship, asylum or whatever, are dealt with in a speedy and timely fashion. It is acknowledged that significant work needed to be done in this area. This work is being carried out.

I thank Deputy Naughten for this very important question, which relates to supporting policing in our rural communities. Community safety is a top priority for my Department. Everyone has the right to be safe and feel safe in their community, and rural Ireland is no exception in that regard. Our approach to community safety is a whole-of-government one. Enhancing rural safety includes everything from having more visible gardaí in the community to providing safe public spaces and amenities. That is why we are bringi…

I acknowledge that we do not have as many gardaí as we need, but significant efforts are being made to address this. We have had a very large increase in the number of recruits coming through Templemore. Regarding safety in rural Ireland, the national rural safety forum was established in 2019. In 2022, we published the national rural safety plan. Yesterday, I met the deputy president of the IFA, Alice Doyle, and the assistant Garda commissioner, Paula Hilman, to discuss how we can reinvigorate the national rural s…

There is no question that there is a challenge regarding the number of gardaí, but that arose out of the situation during Covid when recruitment was paused. We are now addressing the situation by significantly increasing recruitment through Templemore. Up to the end of June of this year, 581 gardaí were assigned to the Mayo, Roscommon, Longford division and 599 were assigned to the Galway division. The Deputy will see an increase in the number of members of An Garda Síochána over the coming years as that recruitmen…

I thank the Senator for his contribution. He has long been an advocate for gambling reform. The Bill provides that any person who provides a gambling activity whether for a commercial, charitable or philanthropic purpose must have a licence from the authority. There are no exemptions, save for the few very specific circumstances set out in sections 89 and 90. Commercial operators operating from a premises could describe themselves as a casino, private members' club, sports club, sportsbook or bingo hall. Irrespecti…

I thank Deputy O'Connor for raising the very important matter of the number of gardaí in each district in the Cork East constituency. Everyone deserves to be safe and feel safe in their own communities, and of course having a visible Garda presence in the community is an important part of that. Everyone deserves to have that sense of safety. The unprecedented allocation of over €2 billion for 2023 and €2.35 billion for 2024 to An Garda Síochána demonstrates the Government's commitment to ensuring An Garda Síochána …

Again I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter of the number of gardaí. There is a significant increase in the number of Garda trainees going through Templemore to address the challenge around Garda numbers. On rural community safety, we have the rural safety forum, which has established the rural safety plan, published in 2022, which we are now working to update. It is an extensive forum with members from right across rural communities. Only yesterday I met Alice Doyle, deputy president of the IFA, and…

I thank Senators for their contributions. I understand their intention. It is important to note that charities and other organisations are already subject to the regulation via the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 where they operate and promote lotteries as part of their fund-raising model. This Bill contains the existing policy and measures, albeit modernised, provided for in the 1956 Act. The exclusion of the charity sector from the provisions of the Bill completely would result in the removal of certain safeguards …

There were concerns on Report Stage in the Dáil that the full repeal of section 36 of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 might lead to bookmakers enforcing payment of unreasonable debts by people who ran up large debts with them. The amendment reintroduces this position and retains the protections provided in section 36 of that Act.

This is a technical amendment required on foot of amending the Bill to provide for transitional arrangements in respect of gambling legislation currently on the Statute Book. With regard to amendments Nos. 44 and 45 from the Labour Party, the effect of the Senators' proposed amendments to section 9 was to maintain the 1956 Act's statement that every contract by way of gaining or wagering is void. As Members may have seen earlier, I introduced a new section 6, which maintains that scenario for the betting sector and…

As the Deputies will be fully aware, the Garda Commissioner is independent in terms of deployment of members of An Garda Síochána right across the country, and deploys them where he feels they are best deployed. Garda transfers, again, are an internal matter for the Garda Commissioner and An Garda Síochána. On what Deputy Stanton has raised, I fully agree with him. That is why we are working very hard to get Garda time freed up to focus on front-line work. There has been significant recruitment of civilian staff to…

I thank the Acting Chair. Amendment No. 47 involves two new insertions in section 13, namely, the appointment of a person with lived experience of problem gambling to the board of the authority and a limit on the number of members of the board who have been employed in the gambling sector. Given the scale of its remit, membership of the authority should reflect a broad range of expertise in relation to the gambling sector. Section 15 of the Bill provides that the Minister shall agree with the Public Appointments Se…

I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter on the number of gardaí, as well as Garda staff, assigned to Borris, Carlow, Hacketstown, Muine Bheag, Myshall, Rathvilly and Tullow stations. The Government is committed to ensuring that An Garda Síochána has the resources it needs to fight crime and a strengthened, well-resourced Garda organisation is central to this policy. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and I were pleased to secure unprecedented funding of over €2.35 billion for this year, a 25% increase …

The number of gardaí in the area has increased by 9% since the end of 2015. We are carrying out a recruitment process in Templemore for An Garda Síochána and this has sped up significantly, with a significant number of gardaí graduating from there. There is a challenge with Garda numbers but as the numbers increase I have no doubt additional gardaí will be assigned to the Kilkenny-Carlow division.

Some of the Senator's comments have left me a bit lost. Almost the entire Bill is about prevention and protection of people from gambling addiction. There are too many sections to even begin listing them, including sections on child protection. The social impact fund is not just downstream. In fact, education and awareness are specifically listed among the social impact fund's purposes. It is about those as well. To suggest this Bill is not about prevention of gambling is an extraordinary statement. I ask the Senat…

I condemn the incidents of crime outlined by Deputy Murnane O'Connor. They are absolutely outrageous and I have no doubt An Garda Síochána will leave no stone unturned in investigating these criminal activities. There is an excellent chief superintendent in Anthony Pettit, who is originally of the Wicklow-Wexford division. No doubt the chief superintendent would very much appreciate additional gardaí, as would every chief superintendent throughout the country. We acknowledge there is not a sufficient number of gard…