Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We have organised the time among ourselves.

I welcome the opportunity to open the Second Stage debate on the Gambling Control Bill 2018. As Members will be aware, this legislation was introduced to the House by my colleague, Deputy Rabbitte, on 21 February last. I commend Deputy Rabbitte and Deputy Jack Chambers, who have been instrumental in moving this legislation forward and bringing it to Second Stage here today.

It is instructive to note that the legislation dealing with gambling in Ireland dates back to the Betting Act 1931 and the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956. That reveals the extent to which the current laws governing gambling are archaic. I do not believe that anyone in this House believes that the laws do not need to be updated or that new regulations do not need to be introduced. Any person who travels around Ireland will know that gambling is a very substantial and significant business. Most small towns and, indeed, large towns have many bookies' shops and there is also the opportunity for people to gamble online. It is a business that has an enormous turnover and there are significant profits from it.

I wish to note at the outset that Fianna Fáil fully recognises that many people in Ireland enjoy themselves gambling. They do not have a problem in respect of gambling. They like to bet on a horse or a football match. It provides entertainment and does not have any negative consequences for them, other than losing small amounts of money. However, that ignores the fact that many people in this country have significant gambling addictions. It is important, and the responsibility of this House, to ensure that legislation is introduced to provide some assistance for those individuals.

When it comes to introducing any legislation it is important that we look at the available research dealing with the particular social area we are trying to regulate. We have done this prior to introducing this legislation. Research was conducted in June 2015 by an academic in University College Dublin, Dr. Crystal Fulton, and it indicates there is a significant problem with gambling addiction in Ireland. Research carried out by GambleAware, which was referred to in the research I just mentioned, shows that an estimated 28,000 to 40,000 people in Ireland suffer from a gambling disorder. That is a huge number of people. We also know from international research that single men under the age of 35 are particularly affected by gambling addiction. That is a cohort of individuals in our society for which we need to do something. Many individuals - men between the ages of 20 and 35 - have significant social problems, one of which is gambling. It is simply irresponsible of this House to ignore that problem and not to try to regulate the area.

We all know individuals who have suffered from gambling addictions. In many respects, gambling addiction is no different from any other addiction, such as a drug or alcohol addiction. It can and does have a devastating impact on individuals' relationships. It can have devastating impacts on marriages, on friendships and on other family relationships. It also results in people's behaviour becoming very erratic. It has all the hallmarks of a symptom which requires proper treatment. In fact, it could nearly be diagnosed as a particular condition that requires expert treatment in the future.

We need to recognise that it is unacceptable not to have tried to regulate this area for so long. The problems in respect of gambling are now even more severe because of the arrival of technology. It used to be the case that people who had gambling problems would have to go to the bookie's shop and the worst that would happen was that they would devote and spend all the money in their pockets to gambling and that they would lose that money. Now problems are much more significant. People have access to gambling online and on their mobile phones. They are not just limited to losing the money they have in the bank account. They are now exposed to the prospect of losing money that they have borrowed or that is on account - money they do not have but for which they will be responsible when their debts come in and when the bill comes in from the bookie.

I say this with no disrespect to bookies but the bookie always wins and it is the case that an individual who is devoting his or her life to gambling inevitably will suffer from severe financial loss. Therefore, what we seek to do in this legislation is to provide regulation for this area in Irish life. We want to ensure that gambling in Ireland is properly regulated, that vulnerable people are properly protected and that the business itself is fully regulated in order that ordinary individuals who want to be involved in gambling can know that they are doing so in an orthodox and regulated way. We think it is very important that this legislation gets through this House as promptly as possible and that we get a regulatory system in place.

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