The Periodical Lotteries Regulations, 1961 require that the returns referred to by the Deputy have to be made to the District Officer in the Garda district where the lottery is organised. I am informed by the Garda authorities that the statistical information sought by the Deputy is not readily available and could only be compiled by the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time.
I would, however, refer the Deputy to the commitment in the Government policy agreement to reform the law relating to the administration and regulation of charities along the lines of the report of the Committee on Fund-raising Activities for Charitable and Other Purposes. This report, known as the Costello report, included recommendations relating to the law on periodic lotteries. A seminar was held in June of last year by the Minister of State at my Department, Deputy Burton as part of the process of considering what legislative changes are needed in this area. Written submissions, which were invited following the seminar, have been examined.
Following that examination, an advisory group, representative of organisations involved in the charitable fund-raising sector, was established on 4 March 1996, by the Minister of State. The purpose of this group is to facilitate the consultative process with those involved as practitioners in the field in the context of finalising proposals for legislation on fund-raising/charities, including periodic lotteries, in the near future.
