I move:—
Go bhfuil sé oiriúnach a údarú go n-íocfar amach as airgead a sholáthróidh an tOireachtas aon chostaisí fé n-a raghfar ag an aon Achta i bhfeidhm a rithfar, sa tsiosón so chún socrú do dhéanamh chun gur fearrde a regleálfar agus a srianfar daoine dar gnó geallta do ghlaca agus chun regleáil agus srianadh do dhéanamh maidir le suimitheoirí d'úsáid, agus chun leasú do dhéanamh, chun na gerícheanna san agus chun crícheanna eile, ar an dlí a bhaineas le geallchur agus le tithe geall.
That it is expedient to authorise the payment out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas of the expenses incurred in carrying into execution any Act of the present session to make provision for the better regulation and control of persons engaged in the business of bookmaking, to regulate and control the use of totalisators, and for those and other purposes to amend the law relating to betting and betting houses.
It is difficult to estimate what the expense of carrying the Betting Bill into operation and the collection of the betting tax will be. It is not expected to be considerable, because while there may be re-scheming necessary in connection with Excise officers in certain districts, in order to allot a greater number of officers to a specified area than there is there at present, in other districts this re-scheming will not be necessary, because certain branches of Excise work are lighter than before. That is so in connection with old age pensions. Owing to the smaller number of pensioners and the smaller number of claimants—arising from the fact that we are getting past the period that represents the survival of the very big populations of the famine and post-famine times—the amount of work to be done by Excise officers in connection with pensions has been declining. So far as many Excise districts in the country are concerned, there has been a falling off in the work to be done by Excise officers, and, in a number of cases, we believe it will be possible to carry out the provisions of this Act, and the clauses of the Finance Act imposing the Betting Tax, without additional staff. In other places, there will be additional staff required. It is not expected that, in any case, will any sharp or considerable increase in staffs be required to deal with these matters. So far as the cost which may be involved in setting up the totalisator is concerned, it is not possible at this stage to give any information that would be of value to the Dáil.
In different countries widely different types of machines are used. There are machines in use costing anything from £70,000 to £120, and until a decision has been come to as to the type of machine and the type of structure that will be required in this country it is impossible to give any estimate. I think that the information in regard to the totalisators can only be given to the Dáil when we come with an Estimate asking for money to initiate the totalisator system.
