asked the Minister for Finance if the Government have made a decision on the recommendations of the all-party Dáil committee on the distribution of national lottery funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
19.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - National Lottery Funds.
12.
asked the Minister for Finance when he proposes to introduce the recommendations contained in the interim report of the all-party committee on the disbursement of national lottery funds; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12 and 19 together.
The Government are still considering the recommendations contained in the interim report of the all-party working group on the method of allocating national lottery funds.
I hope to be in a position to make a statement on the matter shortly.
(Limerick East): Is the matter currently before the courts or is it the intention of the Minister to continue with the slush fund approach which has brought the lottery into disrepute?
The matter is currently before the Government and there is so little money there that it would be a very poor slush fund. I do not intend to use it as a slush fund.
(Limerick East): In view of the fact that expenditure under the lottery is committed for some time to come would the Minister at least do the decent thing and decide in principle along the lines of the arrangement suggested by the committee?
The Minister for Finance does not spend any of it at all.
(Limerick East): The Minister is evading the issue.
No, I am not going to anticipate the outcome. I have already told the Deputy that the issue is before the Government, that when the Government decide on it I will be only too glad to make a statement.
(Limerick East): With respect, the very fact that the question is down to the Minister for Finance suggests he has ministerial responsibility for the lottery.
I will be accountable in this House for that responsibility any time.
I am calling Deputy Creed who is offering.
(Limerick East): Out of courtesy to the House the Minister should have got the Government to make a decision prior to today's Question Time so that he could give us a satisfactory answer to this question and fulfil his responsibilities to the House since he has had the recommendations of the committee since before Christmas.
This Government are very busy. They are considering this matter. When a decision is made I will be only too glad to make a statement.
Can the Minister be more specific? Can he give to the House information on when a decision will be made, will it be a week, a month or can he be more specific? This is only a four page document with very simple recommendations and changes recommended in the distribution of the funds concerned. Is the Minister aware that the committee, on which his party had a representative, were under pressure to have the recommendations made available to the Minister prior to the introduction of the budget but that since then nothing has happened? This is important because of the way in which lottery funds are distributed. Can I ask the Minister to be more specific as to when a decision will be made?
The Deputy is well aware that I cannot be more specific than I have been. The matter is before the Government. The matter was presented to me at a time when the budget speech was half drafted. If people were serious about having the recommendations included in the budget they should have given them to me more than a day or two before the budget.
(Limerick East): The Minister made changes in the last weekend.
Deputy Noonan was a Minister in the previous Government. He knows exactly what the procedure is to get a matter like this to Government. He knows exactly that it goes on the agenda and that it is the Government's prerogative to decide on it. If he were in my position he could not anticipate when a Government would make a decision. It is there before them and it is their prerogative to make a decision.
The Minister——
I would suggest to Deputy Creed, who might think it is all very simple and straightforward, that there is involved a very serious recommendation which will take time to tease out. As a member of the committee he should know what that recommendation is.
A number of Deputies are offering. I am calling Deputy McDowell.
There are a number of applications which cannot be glossed over in two minutes, as you might suggest.
(Interruptions.)
Please, the Chair is in charge here. Deputy McDowell without interruption from any side.
Now that the Minister is in a position to tell the House not merely that all the lottery money that has accrued to date has been allocated but that all the money accruing during this coming year is also allocated, can he supply us, once and for all, in the form of a list, with details of what all those allocations are?
Perhaps the Deputy would refer to my Budget Statement and all the additional information presented with it when he would find that most of the information he is looking for is contained there. In relation to what may or may not be available for additional allocation this year, there are ongoing commitments for the next couple of years that have to be provided for. The amount of money as of today that would be available over and above that is very small but that is not saying what it will be by the end of the year.
Deputy Desmond.
(Limerick East): The horse has well and truly bolted.
Let us not follow questions around the House. I have called Deputy Desmond.
May I have your ear?
Certainly, Sir.
May I ask the Minister if the revised Book of Estimates which I understand is due to be published next week will reflect any of the recommendations made by this all-party group.
The Book of Estimates to be published next week will contain a lot of information on the various allocations.
For lottery 1989.
Of course they will. They have to.
Thank you.
Question No. 14 please.
I would remind the Minister that he is in a minority Administration——
A final question, please. Deputy Desmond should listen to the Chair.
——and there could be another vote on the national lottery.
I do not know what the Deputy is talking about.
Deputy Jim O'Keeffe for a final and brief supplementary question on this subject.
This is the fourth question I have raised here this evening on the national lottery. The Minister is aware that lottery moneys can only be expended in accordance with the purposes set out in section 5. May I ask the Minister in relation to the expenditure of lottery funds whether, under section 5, additional purposes were determined by the Government so as to enable the sum of £190,000 to be expended on the purchase of computers by the Taoiseach?
That is clearly a separate question.
A Deputy
It is on the Order Paper but it is well down the list.
It is in fact on the Order Paper. Next question please.
I assumed it would be dealt with.
I would be only too glad to answer when I have the reply.
Question No. 14 please.