Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Online gaming is another area which we have to address. I am conscious of the game Fortnite and all of the concerns around it. Elements of these games have loot boxes. This is another example of where people get that little high and the same excitement as they get with a lottery scratch card. Young children of ten, 11 and 12 years of age are playing these games. These are pervasive and are having an impact on them at an early stage. These are the types of activities we need to control.

I accept the Minister of State’s point that gambling addiction requires health-based solutions. There are steps we can take from a regulatory perspective, however, to protect people from gambling. I have come across instances where young male apprentices on apprenticeship wages of several hundred euro a week have managed to max out up to four credit cards and run up debts of €20,000 before their parents found out. The young men suffered much stress because they felt they could not talk to anybody. The gambling control Bill should prevent gambling with a credit card. It should be money a person has at the very least and he or she should not be able to run up that level of debt. These are the steps we can take, along with the health measures, to help those with gambling problems. We must protect as best we can those who suffer from these challenges.

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