Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We had representatives of the gambling industry in here two weeks ago. They pointed out that a very small number of people who gamble go on to become problem gamblers and pointed out that it is a very tiny minority. I made the point that I very infrequently gamble. I buy the odd lottery ticket and I do not think that I have ever bet on a horse. There are hundreds of thousands of people who infrequently bet. Maybe they will place a bet at Cheltenham time or gamble once a month if one added it up over years. Out of those many thousands of people there is a tiny minority who become problem gamblers but there is a smaller sector of people who watch the form of horses and frequently gamble every week. If we considered the proportion of the latter who become problem gamblers the figure would be quite high.

Aside from creating serious harm, gambling also creates serious profits for the people and companies that engage in it. Obviously the reason that they do it and push it to such an extent is that they make a huge amount of money. Indeed, that does not just involve the people who engage in gambling. There are industries that depend on it such as the horse racing industry. I was a member of the agriculture committee for many years and crossed swords with Horse Racing Ireland about all of the State money that it took; most of it was given as prize money to very wealthy owners of racehorses yet I have seen people in the community lose everything when they bet on that industry.

What this Bill, and what all legislation tries to do, is strike a balance. Our problem is that we must strike a balance. As Senator McDowell has suggested, for the people who have a great problem then all of us would say that the way to solve the issue is to have no gambling at all. However, the other night two men came to my door to sell a ticket for a local GAA club and that is gambling. Many small organisations around the country engage in various lotteries and things to keep community projects and other things going but these activities involve an element of gambling. We must strike a balance and this legislation must look at this area. I accept that many people - I have met some - are addicted to lottery scratch cards. We must target this legislation at the people who gamble a lot long term and for whom gambling has a negative impact on their lives. We must find a way to accommodate them without punishing the other side of gambling, which is where people buy the odd lotto ticket or buys tickets from local clubs whether it is GAA, rugby or whatever. That is where we must strike a balance and I am interested in hearing the attitude of the witnesses to that. We often talk about what happens in a drugs scenario. I mean people may start smoking cannabis but after a while it becomes a gateway drug and they get into the heavier stuff. Is it a similar situation with gambling where people begin casually gambling but later it takes them down the path to addiction?

For a minority at least, that can be a very dangerous path. How can we ensure there is a fork in the road that brings them back to the right path?