Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Soon after the last election, Senator Mark Wall proposed a ban on online gambling. A Gambling Regulation Bill was introduced by the Minister for Justice to this House. It passed last December. Obviously, gambling brings in quite a lot of funds to the Exchequer, but there are other ways to earn money. If we can put health warnings on wine bottles now, what is the delay in regulating gambling? You cannot watch a match on television now without being bombarded with advertisements trying to get young people to go online to gamble. The ESRI yesterday said 12,000 people in Ireland have a gambling problem and acknowledged that that figure is understated. We need to act with urgency on this issue.

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