The first issue I wish to raise today is a familiar one to many of my friends in the Gallery, namely, The Star bingo in Crumlin village. Many people have been in touch with me about it. I understand legislation is coming in to limit the amount of money that can be given out in prize money. There is much concern that this will take away from the playing of bingo. I accept that issues such as gambling addiction arise, but I do not think bingo leads to that. The people who have come to me are genuine men and women who have retired, and they go to bingo as a social outlet in the evenings. We must be cognisant of that factor because loneliness is a major public health issue. I accept bingo is a commercial enterprise, but it brings much joy to many people, including our relatives, who use it as a social outlet. I do not think we should forget how important it is to have such a social outlet.

The second issue I wish to raise concerns citizenship applications and stamp 4 applications. I raised it in the House previously and the Minister listened to what I had to say, in addition to discussing re-entry visas. He was quick to appeal the High Court residency decision. As I indicated in the House, there are administrative irregularities, bordering on racism when it comes to the timeframe of dealing with citizenship and stamp 4 applications. There is an onus on applicants to adhere to timelines and have all their ducks in a row, but there are no deadlines when it comes to the State processing the applications. It might be time to introduce statutory deadlines for the State to deal with citizenship and stamp 4 applications. When an applicant has all of his or her paperwork in order and he or she is entitled by the laws of the land to be a citizen, we must ensure that is done properly because it is very upsetting when people have to wait a long time.

One cannot travel while waiting for a stamp 4 visa application. Those waiting are contributing members of society and we must give them the proper céad míle fáilte if they are here legitimately and legally. The Minister must look expeditiously at the matter.

Following on from Senator Ardagh's concern about gambling and the like, I wish to ask the Leader if he will arrange for the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, to discuss the presence of gambling casinos and their operation in Dublin, which is in flagrant contravention of the gaming and lotteries legislation. As I understand it, there will be no relevant amendment and all of those operations are illegal but for some reason they have now been in operation for ten years and nobody has done anything to halt them. I would appreciate if the Leader could do something by way of having the Minister in to explain why legislation for which his Department is responsible – I was the relevant Minister some 14 years ago – is not being enforced.

The second issue I wish to raise again concerns the Minister for Justice and Equality. I hope the Leader does not think I am in any sense concentrating on the Minister. Last night we had a very useful debate on the legislation on costs in probate cases. There seemed to be unanimity that the Bill could proceed to Report and Final Stages and although it was not scheduled to take place last night, in my view it could be done in five minutes some time next week if the Minister is here to deal with it.

I rise today to raise the extremely worrying situation in Malta and the ongoing refusal of Prime Minister Muscat to step aside and allow a proper independent investigation into what is the most flagrant breach of the rule of law in the European Union today. I specifically mention the report of a delegation of the European Parliament led by my colleague, Roberto Mazzolo, which found that there are serious concerns that led and are indirectly connected to the murder of a journalist two years ago. Malta is a partner member state in the European Union, one with which we have close relations and with which we share detailed information. Therefore, I call on the Leader to call in the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to take statements on the matter. I have already called for the Maltese ambassador to appear before the Joint Committee on European Affairs. This is something that crucially impacts all of us. It is an issue not just within an individual member state but across the EU and we in Ireland must absolutely stand side by side with the people of Malta and the rule of law across the precious European Union.

I also welcome the fact that the lottery Bill has been revised. I am aware that many people were very anxious that bingo would, in effect, be stopped. The Bill did not intend that and I am reassured that the law will remain the same for any bingo organisers that have prizes of less than €5,000. However, there is an issue - I understand where the Minister is coming from - given the number of big operators who claim they are giving money to charity yet not much money is going to charity. I am delighted the Bill is being revised and I look forward to discussing it when it comes to the Seanad for consideration.