Deputy McGinley gave me notice of his intention to raise on the Adjournment the subject matter of the national lottery. The Deputy has 20 minutes to make his case and the Minister ten minutes to reply.
Adjournment Debate. - National Lottery Proceeds Allocation.
I thank you, sir, for having given me the opportunity of raising this important matter of public concern on the Adjournment this evening. I also wish to thank the Minister for Finance on being present after a long, arduous day in the House to reply to the subject matter of the motion which is the allocation of the national lottery funds, or the surplus of funds arising from the national lottery.
Before proceeding, I should like with your permission, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, to give some minutes of my time to Deputy Nealon who has just arrived in the House.
If the House is agreeable. Agreed.
The first definite commitment on the part of any Government that the national lottery was to be established was given in the White Paper Building on Reality published in 1984. There was some talk about it up to then but the first concrete commitment was given in that document. It was envisaged that the funds accruing from the national lottery would be devoted to providing sport facilities and so on for young sport enthusiasts. The actual Bill was introduced in the House in June 1986 and subsequently passed. In the course of that debate there was a guarantee given, on Committee Stage, that a minimum of 55 per cent of the proceeds of the national lottery would be devoted to sports. At the time some people were of the opinion that the entire proceeds should be given to sports. It was decided by the Government of the day that 55 per cent should be given to sports, 35 per cent to arts, culture and the Irish language and the remaining 10 per cent to health, and other contingency projects.
It is interesting to note that, during the passage of the Bill through this House while it had the support of the Government it did not have the support of the Opposition because of the fact that the entire proceeds were not being given to sports. I have a copy of the relevant debate of 25 June 1986 here. The first speaker for the Opposition on that day was Deputy O'Kennedy, now Minister for Agriculture and Food, who, at that column 1216 of the Official Report, had this to say:
We are opposed to this Bill and, having listened to the Minister's statement, our grounds for opposition are strengthened rather than weakened. We are opposed to it for a variety of reasons and I will develop these points later but I should like to indicate now our three main reasons for opposing it. First, we are opposed to it because the Bill gives the Government power to subsume into the Exchequer for such purposes as the Government may determine from time to time the proceeds of this lottery. We are not prepared to accept that.
At column 1223 Deputy O'Kennedy stated:
I am not prepared to accept from any Government, and particularly the present one, those general intentions which are not enshrined in legislation, particularly legislation which allows them to cancel out the whole Bill for whatever purposes they wish.
Later that day in the House another spokesperson for the Opposition, Deputy O'Rourke, who is now Minister for Education, stated at column 1238:
We all rested comfortably on that promise. In recent years when I met representatives of third level institutions, secondary schools, community and sporting organisations, the promotion of sport was mentioned and I took sustenance from the commitment of our Government, in the person of Deputy Tunney who was responsible for sport and later Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn, to devote most of the money from the national lottery to the promotion of sport.
Another speaker from the Opposition that day was the present Minister with responsibility for youth and sport, Deputy Fahey, who stated at column 1356 of the Official Report on 25 June:
I find it objectional that the proceeds of the lottery, instead of going to sport, will, according to the Minister, be applied to a variety of purposes including sport, health care, the arts and cultural activities. The Government should not have changed the original intention. It appears that the proceeds of the lottery will be used to replace Exchequer expenditure.
Later he said:
The Government's document, Building on Reality, stated that the proceeds of the lottery would go to the promotion of sport and the change now proposed by the Government is totally unacceptable to us.
At column 1357 Deputy Fahey stated:
The original intention was to use the proceeds to finance the promotion of sport. The national lottery should be operated by a Department of Sport and the proceeds should all go to sport, as originally intended. The arts and culture should continue to be financed from the Exchequer.
I hope these quotations which I have quoted from the Official Report give an indication of the thinking and the view of the Opposition on the National Lottery Bill when it was going through the House. They were in favour of a lottery Bill but they were against this National Lottery Bill due to the fact that the entire proceeds of the lottery were not being devoted to sporting facilities and sporting organisations. Subsequently, there was an election and a change of Government and a number of things have happened since then.
In 1987 the amount of money allocated to sporting organisations was reduced to £100,000. It was £1.6 million in 1986. One could say that the reduction in the allocation in 1987 was a mortal blow to the development of sport in this country. However, there was light at the end of the tunnel because in the meantime the national lottery was launched and it was a great success, as the Minister said in the House earlier this evening. The returns from the lottery exceeded the most optimistic expectations of any of its supporters. The people supported it and it became obvious that at long last sport would get the vital funds and resources to enable us to compete with the rest of the world.
However, we were all in for a rude awakening. In reply to a Dáil question put down by me and by others on 12 May 1987 in which we requested information as to what was happening the funds of the lottery, we were told that instead of sport getting 55 per cent as was decided by the outgoing Government it would now receive 45 per cent. The question is, 45 per cent of what? It was not 45 per cent of the entire proceeds but 45 per cent of £7 million, which is £3.15 million. That amount was not entirely devoted to sport because youth affairs was also included in that allocation.
Instead of sporting organisations and sporting facilities getting 55 per cent of the proceeds of the lottery they were now to receive 45 per cent of the first £7 million. We all know that before the end of the year, if people keep contributing to the lottery, that figure will not be £7 million but will be £20 million or more. We are entitled to some clarification in the House as to what percentage of the entire lottery will go to sport. Will it be 45 per cent of the entire take or 45 per cent of the £7 million which has so far been handed over? Sporting bodies and sporting organisations who have been depending up to now on Government funds are very anxious to find out what will happen for this year.
For instance the Olympic Council — this is a very important year for them because they are preparing for the Olympic games in Seoul in 1988 — were granted £275,000 last year under the Coalition Government to prepare our team for the Olympic games. What can they expect to get this year? They will certainly not get the money from the traditional Exchequer transfer because that is down to £100,000. Can they expect to get it from the national lottery? What will happen to the national sports centre?
Are there funds available to cover that development?
As I said, 45 per cent of the £7 million will go to sport and also to youth, another area which has been badly neglected by the Government. In 1986 the entire allocation to youth and youth organisations who promote youth affairs was £3.9 million. In the 1987 budget it was reduced to £2.1 million, a reduction of almost 50 per cent. They are also depending on the national lottery to make up that shortfall. So far £3.15 million has been allocated to sport and to youth and that is insufficient.
It is obvious that the entire concept of the national lottery is under seige by the Government in their hungry quest for Exchequer funds. The proceeds of the lottery are being used as another form of taxation and are being poured into the bottomless pit of the Exchequer. People who contribute to the lottery under the impression that the proceeds will go to sports and community facilities are being conned. Instead, the moneys are being used to supplement the Government's inadequate funding of various Departments. God knows what other Departments and other functions will be funded by the lottery before the end of the current year.
This is nothing less than a somersault, another broken promise in the long list of broken promises by the Government. They changed their minds with regard to the Anglo-Irish Agreement, the Single European Act and so on. In spite of all the pious platitudes of the Government during the processing of the Bill when it went through this House, they have been caught with their hands in the till of the national lottery. The people who pay their money on the understanding that they will see the results in their own communities in the form of sport centres and other facilities are being conned. It is about time they were told exactly where the proceeds will go for the rest of the year.
The whole concept and the thinking behind the introduction of the national lottery in the initial stages was that it would provide a source of funding for sports. This concept was shared by all and by the many Ministers and Ministers of State involved, including the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, way back in the initial stages. At a later stage the idea of funding the arts from this source was added at the instigation of the then Taoiseach, Deputy FitzGerald, and of myself. The idea was that the national lottery would provide a source of funding for sports and the arts.
Throughout, there was one great fear — and this fear was shared by all sides of the House — that the funds would be raided for purely Exchequer purposes at some stage. I say "at some stage" because even the most cynical or hardened observer did not think this would happen before a single penny of the lottery funds was distributed. To safeguard against that possibility, and at the very strong urging of the then Opposition and through amendments which they put down at that time, a section was added to the original Bill specifying the agencies which should be beneficiaries of the funds. Included was sport and the arts and health was added simply to make up for the small amount which would be lost to the health area through the ending of the Irish Hospitals (Trust) Sweepstakes.
The Coalition Government provided the funds as follows: 55 per cent for sport, 35 per cent for the arts and culture, including the Irish language, and 10 per cent in the other areas. I thought the 35 per cent allocated to the arts was not satisfactory but considering the great success of the lottery it would have transformed the arts scene. My Department produced a White Paper saying the funds from the lottery would be used to implement the issues covered in the White Paper. You, a Leas-Ceann Comhairle, know how difficult it is to satisfy the people in the arts community but for once they were relatively satisfied and were not grumbling. They felt this was an opportunity for them to break away from the penury which had bedevilled them down the years. Now before even a penny has been distributed, we find 10 per cent has been chopped off the amount for the arts and culture, including the Irish language. Not 10 per cent of the entire fund, the 40 per cent to flow to the beneficiaries of the lottery, not 10 per cent of the projected £9 million but 10 per cent of £7 million.
I regret to say that what is now happening is, to a certain extent a confidence trick on all the people who bought lottery tickets. Research carried out here, in the United States, Australia and elsewhere has shown that while the main motivating factor of anyone purchasing a ticket is the hope of winning something, a secondary and very strong motivating factor is the purpose for which the funds accruing from the lottery will be used. In this case everybody clearly understood from the beginning that the main beneficiaries would be sport and the arts. All the people who bought tickets, and this accounts for almost every adult in the country, thought they had a chance of winning the lottery, but they also thought they were helping sports and the arts. If they had thought this was a form of taxation I believe many of them would not have purchased tickets. As I said, I am afraid this can only be described as a confidence trick.
I ask the Minister to restore immediately if possible, or if not as soon as possible, or to give some indication of his thinking on the restoration of the original percentages. Perhaps he would let us know what he is going to do with the money in excess of the £7 million — and there will be a lot of money involved. I suggest he should distribute the money in excess of the £7 million on the basis of the original 55 per cent, 35 per cent and 10 per cent. What has happened is that the Government have taken a retrograde step. I know the reason this was done and I know the exigencies that exist in the health areas, but having taken all these factors into consideration, in the long term interest of the future of the National Lottery, I believe this was a retrograde step and will damage the lottery.
I am sorry to say that once again sports in which you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, have a great interest, and the arts and culture, in which you have an equally great interest, are again being treated badly. While they are getting moral support from all of us and we all say they deserve support, when it comes to giving them cash we once again renege on these promises.
The legislation under which the national lottery operates provides that the lottery surplus is to be applied for the purposes of sport and other recreation, national culture, including the Irish language, the arts and the health of the community, and such other purposes as the Government may determine. The Government have decided to add youth projects to the purposes for which lottery moneys may be used.
On the advice of the lottery company, the Government set aside £7 million in the Book of Estimates as the surplus likely to be available to the Exchequer from lottery operations this year. That was their advice, not a Government decision. This estimate was prepared in the weeks prior to the launch of the lottery and was based on the best available information. To acknowledge that it has proved in retrospect to have been a conservative estimate is in no way to say we should have built a higher figure into our calculations at the time the estimates were being prepared. It would have been irresponsible of the Government to make unduly optimistic projections without any firm basis for them and to proceed to allocate resources on the basis of those projections. We did not do it in this area, any more than we did in any other area of Government expenditure.
The Government have given careful consideration to the purposes to which the lottery surplus ought to be applied. In doing so they took the view that there were particular services which ought to be financed either totally or to a significant extent from the proceeds of the lottery and this is reflected in the distribution by programme of the £7 million set aside in the Estimates which was announced some weeks ago, namely, £3,150,000 for youth and sports projects, £1,750,000 for arts, culture and the Irish language and £2,100,000 for projects in the health area. The Ministers directly concerned are at present in the process of determining the detailed allocation of these resources following which I will authorise the release of funds to them from the lottery fund. The Dáil earlier tonight in approving the Estimate for the Office of the Minister for Finance has placed the necessary funds at my disposal for this purpose.
I understand that of the £3.5 million allocated for youth and sports projects, about £1.4 million will be used to assist sporting organisations and other sports activities while about £1.7 million will be spent on projects in the youth area. Total Government assistance to sports organisations and to sport in general will be maintained at roughly the same level as last year and at a time when there are cutbacks in almost every area, including health which was referred to by Deputy Nealon.
I know Deputies will join with me in paying tribute to the lottery company on the highly successful launch of the lottery and the manner in which they have succeeded in maintaining public interest in and support for it. Ticket sales to date are of the order of £37 million and it is clear that the surplus accruing to the Exchequer this year will be significantly higher than had earlier been anticipated. I am in consultation with my colleagues on how best to allocate the additional resources now likely to be available and I know that the Minister of State with responsibility for youth and sport will be putting forward proposals for consideration in this regard. I will be bringing these proposals to Government for decision later in the year.
I should like to point out to Deputy McGinley that money is made available for sport and youth under other headings. Huge sums are being spent under amenity grants and other activities by local authorities, vocational educational committees, health boards and all Government Departments. I should like to assure him and Deputy Nealon, that youth or sport will not be neglected by the Government. In the course of the debate tonight on the Estimate for the Office of the Minister of Finance many Members suggested that money should not be devoted to those areas but given to the health services.
It is all very well for Deputies to say that initially the money was to be devoted to sport and that, following pressure by the Taoiseach and Deputy Nealon, a former Minister of State with responsibility for the arts and culture, the arts were included. It has been said that following pressure from some other interest, health was added. It appears that it was in order for the last Government to change the allocation on three occasions but it is wrong for us to decide to add youth. That is nonsense. The last person to talk about confidence tricks in any regard is Deputy Nealon. Had he been listening to the debate earlier on the Estimates he would have heard me say, almost word for word, what he said in regard to those who participate in the lottery. It behoves all of us to ensure that they see, through expenditure on youth, sport, the arts, culture, the Irish language and health, that they are making a contribution as well as taking a chance on winning a prize for themselves.
I should like to congratulate those involved in setting up the lottery on its major success so far. On their behalf I should like to thank the people who have subscribed and congratulate those who have won prizes. I hope people will continue to subscribe because the lottery will provide much needed resources for areas that are of concern to us all under the headings of youth, sport, the arts, culture, the Irish language and the health services. That money would not be available for those sectors otherwise because of the state of the public finances and that should be evident from the savings we have to make in other important areas.
The Dáil adjourned at 10.55 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 11 June 1987.