Fiona O'Loughlin (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend my colleagues Deputies Rabbitte, O'Callaghan and Jack Chambers on introducing this Bill, which is not before its time.It is absolutely shocking that Ireland has the third highest per capitarate of gambling losses in the world and that gambling losses in Ireland totalled €2.1 billion in 2016, which amounts to €4 million every day. Behind the 40,000 people in Ireland known to have gambling problems are families left with unpaid bills, no jobs, empty fridges, hungry children, broken relationships and devastated partners.

That men under 35 are most at risk is no surprise. I had occasion to speak to a recently qualified counsellor who has just started working in his first job. He told me of his surprise at the number of young men his own age who are seeking help for gambling addiction. These men started gambling insignificant sums of money on gaming websites and the problem very quickly spiralled out of control, leaving them with serious financial and mental health problems.

Young people are using new online gambling facilities at a really disturbing rate, creating a whole new generation of addicts. I read a blog post by a man from Kildare on a gambling support website recently. He described how gambling took over his life, leaving him in a continuous cycle of self-destruction and self-torture. He attended a Gamblers Anonymous meeting at Cuan Mhuire in Athy and described how helpful that service was in helping him to quit gambling. What worried me about what he said was how easy it was for him to access so-called members-only gambling facilities despite not being a member. On his Twitter page, he advocates strongly for the passage of this Bill, as does Mr. Tony O'Reilly, the man behind the theft of €1.75 million from An Post to fuel his own gambling addiction. He says the "epidemic - particularly of online gambling - is happening all around us, with thousands of people suffering both directly and indirectly." One way forward, he says, is for the 2013 gambling Bill to be enacted. He states, "If this can be achieved, it could help so many who are struggling with a gambling addiction and may even stop some from falling over that cliff." After five years of delay, action must be taken immediately.

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