Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am not sure exactly where the Deputy is at in terms of advertising for community groups and so on. We now know that the definition of advertisement is not paid advertisement but that a social media post would also be deemed as advertisement. My view is that we should not be having commercial advertising in terms of gambling. I agree with the Deputy on that. It should be curtailed. That is my view. I recognise this legislation takes a step forward. I would like to hear from the Minister of State on the definition of "on-demand media service" and "on-demand sound service". I assume that is YouTube, Spotify and their equivalents. Just to clarify, does that the watershed we are talking about only applies in that case? They can do as much advertising as they want after that watershed, although the authority has the power to regulate that further. The reason I say that is that when we go to social media ads, again we can look at Paddy Power. It is one of the biggest Irish employers in America. It is a huge company. We use it not in a bad way, although some people may. It is dominant in the market and that is why I am using it as an example. It has 1.5 million Facebook followers. It can advertise as much as it wants to as many of its followers as often as it wants under this legislation. What it cannot do is put the ads on YouTube or Spotify until after 9 o'clock. I think there is an issue there. If we have a dominant player in the market where people who are already gambling are liking the page, the provisions here allow for them to be advertised to in a significant way.

I will diverge into something else. I mentioned the radio bingo. I do not think the Minister of State gave me a direct response. He suggested that I want exemptions for radio and so on. I am not looking for exceptions for radio. I am talking about a charity that provides 100% funding for palliative care for people in the north west. People in my community put their hands deep into their pockets to do that. Is it a form of gambling? Absolutely, under this and the previous legislation, it is a form of gambling but I genuinely see it through different eyes. I think most if not all of my community sees it differently. They are going to be banned. This section bans them. It does not just do so with on-demand media services and on-demand sound but also with a broadcaster and, as we know, a broadcaster is radio. Radio bingo is done by Ocean FM. Unless it does it late at night, which is not what is being proposed here, then it is banned.

In regard to books, I asked the question about what advertisement means. Can it be a poster in a shop? The Minister of State has made the point. What about the telly bingo books that are in shops in Kilcar, Gleann Cholm Cille and Donegal town? Are they to be banned as well, or do they have to be hidden under the counter because they will advertise gambling or a relevant activity? Even if the prize fund was less than €10,000, would the displaying of those books be a problem, or would a notice in the shop to say it was happening? That is where I think the real problem with this legislation is. In fairness to the Minister of State and the officials, they have gone a bit of the way there because they have decided to do the €10,000. What do people do? They aim to raise a large amount of money every year, hundreds of thousands of euro, that goes to support patients in palliative care and support families. This is how they do it. They have been doing it for years. Eyes wide open here, folks, we are banning this. They are going to be banned. They will not be allowed to operate that radio bingo as they currently do once this legislation passes. That is a serious problem. I know people, including in my own family, who have had cancer, as we all do, and we know the important work that charities do. When I go back to Donegal, they will ask me why the hell we are doing this. These are not the big companies that are pushing ads out all the time. You could argue that the bingo on the radio is that but I am not sure, to tell you the truth. I do not believe that. I think that is what is fundamentally wrong with this legislation. I have a serious problem with it.

Paddy Power will be able to push as many ads as it likes out to its Facebook followers as often as it wants with whatever prizes it wants to offer and all the nice colours and attractive ways to appeal to people to come in and place a bet. The charity supporting people in palliative care in my community, its operation stops when the President signs this law. That is a big problem and it is not one I will put my name to by supporting this legislation if it is not rectified. How could I face people knowing this is the consequence of it?

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