Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 October 2013
105. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the timeframe involved in the public consultation process in advance of the Gaming Control Bill; when he expects the Bill to be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43868/13]
View answerWhen he refers to public consultation "in advance" of the Gambling Control Bill, the Deputy may have in mind the consideration by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality, of the General Scheme of that Bill. However, he will also be aware of the numerous studies and reports over many years on the reform of our laws on gambling, the most recent being in 2010. Almost all of those earlier reports entailed a level of consultation.
On taking office in March 2011, I decided that the time had come to move to the next stage, i.e. to prepare legislative proposals, with the result that in July, the Government approved the General Scheme mentioned above. My Department took account of those previous consultations when preparing the General Scheme.
I considered it important to hear from as wide a range of opinion as possible about the proposals in the Scheme. I therefore decided to avail of the new enhanced Oireachtas scrutiny procedures. I wrote to the Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality in July requesting that the Committee should furnish to me its views on the General Scheme by the end of October.
The General Scheme was also published on my Department's website within days of it being approved by the Government.
The Deputy is, of course, aware that the Oireachtas, including its Committees, has full discretion on the conduct of its business. In the present case, the Committee decided to invite written and, later, oral presentations on the Scheme. I understand the Joint Committee is now preparing its Report.
Separately from the work of the Joint Committee, the General Scheme has been submitted to the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. That Office has responsibility for the drafting of legislation. The Committee's Report and any recommendations it may contain will be given full consideration as drafting progresses.
The Deputy will be aware of the broad scope and complexity of the Scheme. Bearing that and the workload of the Office in mind, I am unable at this time to give a firm indication as to when the Bill will be published but I do not anticipate publication until the second half of 2014 at the earliest. However, I should add that the very positive reaction to my Scheme, as evident from the presentations to the Joint Committee, is very encouraging. I am looking forward to receiving the Joint Committee's Report. I expect it will be of assistance in having the drafting completed as early as possible.
