asked the Minister for Justice whether the financial accounts of those groups operating authorised pools will be made available for public scrutiny at yearly intervals.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Authorised Pools Accounts.
11.
The answer is "no". The Regulations to be made under the Gaming and Lotteries Act will provide for the supplying of certain information to the Garda Síochána so that they may be in a better position to ensure that the provisions of the Act are being complied with, but there is no provision in the Act to require promoters to disclose any such information to the public and in the absence of such a provision it would not be proper for the Garda Síochána to make the information public.
Surely it would be in the public interest if those figures were made available in much the same way as the Hospitals Trust publish their annual report and in which many business companies publish their reports? Surely the public should know where the takings from these pools go.
There is no provision in the Act to permit of that.
The Government is in the position that they can amend the Act if they think it desirable. Does the Minister not agree that it is desirable that the public should know where the money is going?
That may be a matter for debate but it is a fact that there is no provision in the Act to enable this to be done.