Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As other Members have spoken very well about the online gambling issue, I will not speak about it in the context of this Bill, although it is a big issue that is becoming an increasing problem that must be tackled. Unfortunately, I do not see any moves to deal with it. Gambling and not dealing with it has been an issue in this country for donkey's years. When I was growing up as a teenager in Killybegs, I was in arcades that never had gaming licences. One could gamble as much as one wanted. One could lose a week's wages in half an hour in arcades. I grew up in such arcades because there was nowhere else for young people in Killybegs to go. Unfortunately, I am not talking about today or yesterday but gambling has always been an issue in this country and has never been tackled. Maybe this Bill will go some way towards dealing with it but sometimes I wonder.

On 12 March this year, a proposal to adopt Part III of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 for the whole of the Inishowen and Letterkenny municipal districts was rushed through. It is interesting that the rush to get that through in Donegal was due to the fact that this legislation was coming and that other changes are being proposed by the Dáil. The proposal was passed by five votes to four in Inishowen and by six votes to three in Letterkenny. Unfortunately, a lot of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael members voted in favour of the legalisation of gaming machines in those electoral areas in Donegal. Gaming machines have now been legalised across north Donegal. The move invoked the original 1956 Act, not used in many parts of the country, and comes at a time when concern about the impact that the largely unregulated industry of gaming is having on families and communities is growing. Under the current laws, the Government has no role or responsibility in relation to the licensing or regulation of gaming machines. Under Part III of the Gaming and Lotteries Act, it is left up to local authorities, district courts and the Revenue Commissioners to decide whether to grant a gaming licence. There was strong lobbying on the part of private businesses in Donegal. It is understood that approximately 85 submissions were received, the majority of them in favour of the proposal. At a meeting late last year, business owners operating arcades, which include two in Bridgend, one in Muff, two in Buncrana and a number in Letterkenny, urged councillors to adopt Part III of the Act. They said that if Part III was not adopted, they would not be able to obtain gaming licences and Revenue, which had already seized machines, would continue with enforcement. They further said that this would lead to the closure of arcades with the loss of almost 130 jobs. They also said that over 90% of their trade is cross-Border, which makes it okay, and that their businesses should be protected.

While close attention was paid to private businesses, there was very little communication with the public about this proposal. There were claims that not enough time had been given for the receipt of submissions from the public and questions were raised as to whether the process was properly advertised. A petition was signed by 150 local people but obviously was ignored by the councillors. The petition stated that at a time when other countries are progressively acting to restrict the harmful effects of slot machines, the adoption of the Act would be a regressive step, increasing the potential for gambling addiction in Donegal. It also stated that gambling addiction is the most hidden and corrosive addiction and the hardest to treat, which is certainly true. To put that into context, the HSE has treated 800 people for gambling addiction over the past three years and yet the Irish gambling market is estimated to be worth up to €8 billion annually. That is a lot of gambling by 800 people. The argument on behalf of the gambling sector that jobs are at stake and arcades would have to close down is not solid, as clearly business is thriving in an unregulated way. It is suspicious that councillors would rush to approve Part III for the whole of the Inishowen and Letterkenny municipal districts in time before this and other gambling reform Bills get through the Oireachtas. The councillors in question, the majority of them from Fianna Fáil, definitely absorbed the industry’s fears around the changing nature of gambling in Ireland, which is increasingly migrating to online platforms where it is completely unregulated. I understand this will be addressed under the proposed gambling control Bill but that has not seen the light of day since 2013 when it was first mooted.

Now we have a situation where, in light of the regulatory vacuum, local authorities are making use of their liberties while they still have them. Councillors are also aware of potential changes arising from this and other Bills that would eventually curb the powers of local authorities when it comes to gaming in the future. While this Bill is an opportunity, it has failed to address the arbitrary nature of local authorities’ role in enacting Part III of the principal Act, which is not supported by any policy framework to guide local councillors in how best to represent their constituents on the issue of gaming and gambling. The arbitrary nature of local powers has meant large-scale circumvention of the current law to date.

While the amendments proposed in this Bill do not do away with the powers of local authorities under Part III, the expanded power proposed in section 4 could lead to a diminished role for local authorities in regulating gaming in the future. This leads me to my next issue with this Bill, which is section 4. This section is hugely problematic as it includes for the first time the involvement and expansion of powers of Garda superintendents, who will now have the authority to grant licences for gambling and gaming. How can this be the case when according to the industry’s own sources, there are up to 40,000 gaming machines in operation across the country but Revenue only issued 11,846 gaming machine licences last year? There are lots of unlicensed gambling machines out there about which the Garda already knows. Clearly, members of the Garda are not enforcing existing legislation, which raises a number of questions. I would question whether they are actually the right people to be enforcing this legislation. They have enough to do as it is and we seem to be constantly pushing more onto them. Also in question is the legitimacy of members of the Garda as the issuers of licences to premises, which they have not been checking on in the first place. This provision will also politicise superintendents and make them targets for lobbying by private industry. We have seen that private industry is very good at such lobbying, particularly in the case of Donegal and some political parties. This provision has not been clearly thought through because not only will superintendents have free rein to grant licences in their locality, there is no one to monitor whether the licences are being issued in accordance with the law. It is for these reasons that I have grave difficulties with this Bill and I doubt that I will be in a position to support it.

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