Eamon Scanlon (Sligo-Leitrim, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ireland has one of the highest per capitarates of gambling losses in the world. We lose about €470 per adult per year in different forms of gambling. The latest figures from 2016 show that losses in Ireland are €2.1 billion, with over €5 billion gambled. That is a profit of €2.9 billion for the gambling industry. Over 40,000 people in Ireland are known to have a gambling addiction, with single men under 35 years of age most at risk. We are aware of a number of high profile cases. In one case an individual gambled as much as €10 million. In other cases, individuals gambled hundreds of thousands of euro.

Then we hear there is regulation. There is absolutely no regulation. The industry should be made to react when an individual gambles more than €10,000 a year. If an individual gambles more than that, the alarm bells should be ringing and those betting companies should be forced to make contact with that individual or with the family.

I am aware of the destruction that is caused by gambling. I know families who have lost their homes. Nobody realises the problem exists until it is too late. The families of those individuals do not have a notion of what is happening until it is too late.

An amendment should be inserted into this Bill to provide that if an individual gambles more than a certain amount in any particular period of time there should be an onus on the gambling companies to discuss the situation with that individual or a member of his or her family. There may be an issue with data protection and that baloney, but we must address this; it is too important, and we will be putting down an amendment to that effect.

The Bill sets out two aims of regulation through a new gambling authority and protection via a social fund. There must be age restriction and staff training. These measures will be financed by way of a levy on the industry.

The growing size and intensity of the gambling sector makes this Bill a priority. It has been hanging around for five years, and it is time something is done about it. The issue of how people gamble, night and day, in this day and age must be addressed very quickly.

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