Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I begin by acknowledging this Bill is a huge step forward. It has taken 14 years to get here. It is unfortunate that, once again, we have complex legislation being pushed through ahead of Christmas. I hope the Government will give us time to debate, analyse and strengthen this legislation because we recognise it is badly needed.

We must recognise the men and women across the island of Ireland who highlighted the harm caused by gambling. We are here because these men and women refused to allow this harm to continue. There are potentially 55,000 people in this State engaged in harmful gambling behaviour, according to the latest Health Research Board data. Each of these people has a family, friends, colleagues and a community who are also affected. The number of young people engaged in gambling who are at risk of harm is one in five. That is a shocking statistic and it highlights just how far we must go to tackle it. I hope this Bill, coupled with proper resources for addiction and recovery sector, can see us start to reduce the harm caused by gambling in this State.

There are a few important sections of the Bill I wish to address before outlining areas where we want to see change and where it is needed. The establishment of the gambling regulatory authority is momentous. I note the new CEO took up her position recently. I hope she is doing well and I wish her all the best in her role. We hope she will do great work. The ability of the authority to respond to national and international trends will be a huge asset and one I hope she will utilise.

Online gambling is, as the Minister of State mentioned, a space that is constantly shifting, evolving and changing. We need to see a proactive, responsive regulator that can move with the times. The establishment of the social impact fund will finally see gambling addiction services resourced properly. As the HSE currently provides no funding for services specific to gambling addiction-specific, the fund will be of huge benefit. I hope we see the full roll-out of education programmes in schools and sports clubs to educate young people and their role models. We recently saw the issue with an industry-funded organisation educating young people on the dangers of alcohol. We face the same risk with the Gambling Awareness Trust and we must nip this in the bud now. We need education provided completely free of any interference by the industry.

I will highlight a number of the changes we want to see. Sections 28 and 29 deal with the authority's annual report and the three-year strategy. I would like to see this strengthened to include deliverable actions. We saw this with the national drugs strategy and while there was a lot of disappointment at the failure to deliver, the actions allowed for transparency and monitoring of the objectives. That is good and positive in that we can see what the objectives are and whether they are being delivered.

Chapter 4 establishes the social impact fund. This, as I have said, is a step forward but I would like to see more done on the regulator's ability to recognise that some gambling offerings are inherently more risky than others and that some companies engage in more harmful behaviour than others. New Zealand has a provision in its legislation to recognise this in its social impact fund and this is reflected in the contributions paid by those companies. We should be looking internationally at where things are done best and trying to replicate them in our legislation.

I welcome that my provision to ban credit cards is reflected in section 157. However, I caution that when working with the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Adviser on this legislation, a loophole was found that needs to be closed. It relates to the use of online media such as Revolut to gamble with a credit card. I ask the Minister of State to consider including this provision because we all want the Bill to be as strong as possible.

I have a number of concerns about the establishment of the board. I am sure the House is aware that the housing committee is currently dealing with serious concerns about another State board. We must ensure we create an authority here that is watertight, transparent and fair. I appreciate the need for industry representatives to be on the authority but we should give statutory responsibility to the Minister to ensure this representation does not outweigh the voice of experts, academics, service providers and those with lived experience who put harm reduction at the core of their work. We must not see an authority run by the industry and we must ensure and take all necessary steps to protect against that.

A number of appointment criteria are outlined in section 15(4). Lived experience is not included and this is an oversight. Sinn Féin's all-island recovery charter recognises the right of those in recovery to participate in change-making and decision-making. Their voices need to be heard. They are the people who have the lived experience and, with it, the knowledge we need and which the authority needs to use. I ask the Minister of State to include the expertise sought for the authority and consider lived experience in gambling addiction. This gives us an opportunity to ensure all policies of the authority are reflective of the reality on the ground.

We must do everything we can to impact the board and make it as open and transparent as possible. We must see a proactive, responsive board that can work with all stakeholders to properly regulate this industry because for too long gambling and gambling-related harm have been hidden behind closed doors. I hope the debate on this legislation today and in future will act as a catalyst for the conversation in our schools, sports clubs and even bookmakers. That conversation on how we reduce harm and recognise harmful behaviours is long overdue. Parents must have this conversation with their children and families across the board need to have an open and frank discussion about it. Unlike many other addictions, there are no physical signs of gambling addiction but, just as with others, it can destroy lives and rip families apart. The impact of gambling on families is often overlooked.

The regulatory authority, when established, would ensure a portion of the social fund would go towards family supports. Watching a loved one spiral into addiction, often damaging the finances and emotions of those around them, is traumatising. Trauma breeds addiction and we need to try to address this. A Sinn Féin Government would make sure these conversations are happening. We would start them in every corner of society in the hope that people who are struggling in the dark right now could come out and walk tall with regard to their problems. They need to get help. I hope this authority and the work we are going to do will help to provide that. I hope the Minister of State has listened to some of the points I have made today and will consider these changes. We are looking forward to working constructively with the Government on this because we believe the only way to protect those 55,000 people in this State and their families is by having a strong gambling regulator and a strong Bill that provides the support necessary.

On Monday, a gentleman came into my clinic who told me how he had lost his family, his partner, his two children and his extended family and was homeless. This man is working. He has a good job but he is in the throes of addiction. That is why it is so important that we get this legislation right.

See this speech in context