Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There will be much agreement that this is a good first step. There was an element of waiting decades for this legislation but at this point we need, as mad as it may seem, not to rush it. We need to ensure we cover as many of the loopholes as possible. Many of us know people who suffered from gambling addiction, whether anecdotally, from the work we do in our constituencies or from those we know. I have heard it said many times that you can only drink so much, you can only put so much in your arm or up your nose but when it comes to gambling there are no holds barred. That is not to under-estimate or underplay the impact we have when we deal with those other addictions. However, given the free access people have in regard to gambling, unlike previously when people had to, as Deputy Ó Ríordáin said, regulate themselves to make it down to a particular place to make a punt, unfortunately because of smart phones to which we all have access, you are literally a step away from impoverishing yourself. The Health Research Board, HRB, report talked about 90,000 low-risk gamblers, whatever that means, 35,000 moderate-risk gamblers and 12,000 problem gamblers. We all welcome the moves in regard to the watershed in regard to advertising but a wider conversation is needed in regard to the entanglement of sports, gambling and advertising, and advertising within advertising. Trying to deal with the online sphere is incredibly difficult. Certain tools are now available to us because we are talking about the algorithms that some of the betting companies use to improve their own odds to get the best bang for their buck from some of their punters.End of Take

We need to be able to reset that game from the point of view of the algorithms being used, as they are in certain jurisdictions, and from the point of view of showing up problem gambling as soon as possible in order that it can be locked down. I understand that it is difficult to have a regulatory framework that can deal with this but that is the world we are in. It is what we are up against and it is what we need to deal with. We all know that from a very young age, children are being conditioned in regard to gambling. Again, we know of the games within games and we know about Roblox and casinos, and all the rest of it. It is way beyond reprehensible. As I said, there has been a huge impact on many lives.

We need to make sure we can catch as much as is necessary before the finalised Bill goes through. I hope the Minister is open to what the Opposition is saying and, in particular, to the amendments that will come from this side of the House.

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