Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I had some other questions to ask but having listened to the contributions that have been made, I am going to stick to the issue of problem gambling. I have worked in addiction for 20 years. To be honest, gambling is the hardest thing with which we in the addiction sector have ever worked. When I hear about interventions, wage slips and someone being told they are a problem gambler over a cup of tea, I think that is not an intervention. It is not an intervention into the life of someone who is losing a lot of money. If a conversation and the freezing of an account was all it took, the addiction sector would have mastered how to help people to stop problem gambling long ago. As Mr. Grant said earlier, it is a complex issue but I do not think that anybody who has contributed so far understands the complexity and what is needed to address problem gambling. I find that disturbing. How are our guests defining problem gambling? Are they saying they have a measurement that can tell them when an intervention is needed? Problem gambling means gambling is causing a problem in a person's life, whether that relates to family, relationships, missed bill payments or saving money on rent to spend it on a bet. I do not understand how the bookies know if a situation is one of problem gambling. What are they measuring? We can come back to the question of how bookies understand problem gambling and how they provide an intervention in those circumstances but I do not understand how they would have the data to do that.

I wish to talk about the assertion that there is no difference between online gambling and in-person gambling. I would like to know what our guests are measuring other than instances of gambling. In the recovery aspect of gambling, there is a big difference. When we shifted from in-person gambling to online gambling, the much more immediate action of online gambling allowed more easily for relapse. The process of leaving one's house and walking to the betting shop can mean one walks oneself out of a craving to gamble. What are our guests measuring when they say there is no difference between online and in-person gambling? There is a big difference to the person who is gambling in private and not doing so when their friends are around to call attention to the fact they are in the bookies again. There is a big difference. What do our guests understand as problem gambling? How do they define it? How do they know when someone is a problem gambler? They do not have access to information about gamblers' relationships and do not know who is picking up the bills that the gambler cannot pay. What data are they measuring when they say there is no difference between online and in-person gambling? Do the data include people's actual experiences and the impacts on how they engage with gambling?