David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We are making gambling under 18 years of age an offence. It will not be allowed anywhere and it is the first time it is being done. Section 18 lists the offences and lays out the punishments. There are consequences if people break the law in this area. Enforcement is a matter for the enforcement authority, the Garda and others.

The amendments proposed relate to the maximum stakes and prices which can be played for on a gaming machine at a licensed amusement arcade under the terms of Part III of the principal Act. The only role for the Minister for Justice and Equality under that Part concerns stakes and prize amounts. Section 5 substitutes a new section 14 for that section of the 1956 Act. The amendment concerns, essentially, the updating of a maximum allowable stake and prize amounts. These are increased from three cent and 50 cent to €10 and €7.50.

Deputy Pringle asked how we arrived at these figures. There is no science. I have seen people, with sandwiches and flasks alongside them, sitting in arcades with bags of coins, just feeding them into machines all day. One can argue that, whether it is €2 or €10 at a time, people with a problem with gambling will keep going until the bag of money is gone. Gambling addiction is a problem area.

Deputy O’Callaghan mentioned that there are people employed in this area. As Deputy Fitzpatrick said, he gambles four times a year. We will not do a roll call of the rest of us but people have a flutter every so often. Some people gamble a bit more than others while others have an addiction problem and need help. It has been said that the stakes and prizes are totally unrealistic and out of date. We must bring them up to some form of realistic modern amount.

A new regulation in section 14 will allow the Minister to amend stake and prize amounts. Through a statutory instrument, the Minister of the day can actually increase or decrease stakes or prizes. This will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. If whatever figure we finally arrive at is not working, the Minister of the day can change that in co-operation with the Houses.

In the past, the stakes and prizes were locked into legislation at three cent and 50 cent. There has been no primary legislation in this area since 1956. Deputy Pringle alluded to what was really happening on the ground which is another story. We are trying to bring it up to something realistic. The €7.50 prize is the maximum amount. Obviously, that will probably not happen that often. If people want to gamble, they will want some kind of incentive or thrill to do it. By having a realistic prize, people will be inclined to have a go and a bit of fun. It stops being fun when it becomes a problem.

The Revenue Commissioners issued 12,113 gaming machine licences and 94 licences for gaming premises in 2018. Within the past two years, it has undertaken a major enforcement drive against unlicensed premises and machines. I very much support this effort and hope it will deal with the issues in question. My own proposals seek to make it clear that licensed gaming machines should only be located in licensed gaming arcades where a local authority resolution is in place. Again, I hope the Revenue and Garda enforcement efforts will continue to target unlicensed machines and lead to their removal from public houses, take-away food shops and other such locations.

This particular stake and prize amount has been in the public domain since we first published the proposals more than two years ago. This is the first time it has been examined by the Dáil. Some colleagues in the Seanad raised it as well. I am open to looking at this over the summer. We have to be careful that it is realistic. We are putting in the provision that it can be changed by ministerial order if it is found to be too high.

Several Deputies said there is a thrill to the arcades. There is as much a thrill in gambling online. It is silent and hidden, however. I am far more concerned with the migration to online gambling and how we deal with that. It is not going to be easy. I would contend far much more is lost online than in the arcades. The arcades are limited in their opening times and locations, whereas online is open 24-7. That is where we will put a lot of our efforts to see how we can deal with that.

I understand the amendments are being withdrawn. I agree to examine them again and communicate with colleagues in order that we can agree on some figures. We will certainly give it careful thought over the summer.