James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 74:

In page 109, to delete lines 9 to 15 and substitute the following: “Interpretation (Chapter 1 – Part 6)

137. In this Chapter—

“Act of 2009” means the Broadcasting Act 2009;

“applicable regulations”, in relation to advertising, means regulations made under section 140;

“audiovisual on-demand media service” has the same meaning as it has in section 2 of the Act of 2009;

“broadcaster” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2009;

“broadcasting service” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2009;

“editorial responsibility” means, in relation to an on-demand sound service, effective control over—

(a) the selection of sound programmes or sound recordings, or both, as the case may be, and

(b) the organisation of those programmes or recordings, or both, as the case may be, in a programme schedule or a catalogue which lists programmes or recordings that are available;

“electronic communications network” has the same meaning as it has in section 2(1) of the Communications Regulation Act 2002;

“on-demand sound service” means a service (within the meaning of Articles 56 and 57 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union) where—

(a) the principal purpose of the service, or of a dissociable section of the service, is to provide sound programmes or sound recordings by electronic communications networks to the general public in order to inform, entertain or educate, and

(b) that service is under the editorial responsibility of the provider of that service;

“relevant content” means, in relation to advertising—

(a) a relevant gambling activity, or

(b) in the case of a Business to Consumer gambling licence, the licensee of that gambling licence;

“social media service” means a website or software application (commonly known and in this Chapter referred to as an “app”) that permits a person who is a registered user of the service, has an account with the service or who creates a profile with the service to do any or all of the following—

(a) create, share and view user-generated content on the website or application,

(b) generate content on the website or software application that can be viewed by other users of the service, or

(c) communicate with other users of the service;

“video-sharing platform service” has the same meaning as it has in section 2(2) and (3) of the Act of 2009.”

I indicated on Committee Stage that I would bring amendments to clarify the advertising provisions in the Bill. Amendment No. 74 inserts a series of definitions into Part 6 to ensure the language used in the Bill is consistent with the language and definitions in the Broadcasting Act 2009, other media regulation Acts of 2020 to 2022 and in relevant EU law.

Amendment No. 75 inserts a new section into Part 6 to put an obligation on licensees to comply with the advertising provisions in the Bill. Any breach of an obligation may be addressed by administrative sanction or criminal prosecution, if more appropriate.

During engagement with stakeholders across all sectors, it was requested that advertising restrictions in Part 6 be clarified. I am therefore proposing a series of amendments to clarify the obligations on licensees and other relevant parties in order to strengthen the regulation of gambling advertising and to protect people from such advertising. Given the scope and importance of the regulation-making power in section 141(3), amendment No. 76 moves this power to a dedicated section. This would bring clarity and certainty to stakeholders and provide the authority with the power and flexibility to prescribe specific content and information to be included in gambling advertising; content that may not be included in gambling advertisements; the times, places and events at which gambling advertising can be shown; and, having regard to how advertisements are shown, the frequency and duration of such advertisements. Regulations may also be made to address advertising by specific types of licensees on specific media such as television, radio, on-demand media services, social media and video-sharing services. The authority will also be able to consider and tailor the content required in gambling and advertising, having regard to each advertising medium and the differences between advertising on television, radio, a billboard or social media platforms, for example. Importantly, this section clarifies that regulations may be made in respect of advertising on websites, apps or in print media and regulations may be made to address advertising in or at specific places or events.

Turning to amendment No. 77, I propose to delete the existing section 138 and introduce a number of new sections that will clearly and unambiguously set out the obligations and restrictions applicable to each medium that gambling advertising can be provided on. These new sections will reflect the policy principles currently set out in section 138, but will do so in a manner that has regard to what is practical and feasible on each medium. Following extensive engagement with stakeholders in relation to the advertising and watershed provisions of the Bill, a number of concerns were raised regarding how the Bill will affect the broadcast of sport in Ireland. In particular, it has been asserted that the Bill's advertising restrictions will effectively block the broadcasting of Premier League football, horse racing and other live sporting events in the State. This is not the case. It is not accurate.

Concerns have also been raised about the incidental or background visibility of licensees logos, trademarks, etc. during the broadcast of live sports, such as on jerseys worn by football players or attendees at matches or on jumps or hoardings visible at racecourses and other sporting events. I am therefore introducing a clarification in these amendments to provide that the background or incidental visibility of licensees' logos, trademarks or marketing images, when displayed or mentioned at sporting events before the watershed, will not be in contravention of the Bill. This will mean that where a logo is shown, for example, at a Premier League game or at the Grand National or if an analyst on a race is identified as being an employee of a licensee, between 5.30 p.m. and 9 p.m., it will not be a contravention of the Bill.

Furthermore, I am introducing an exemption throughout Part 6 for charitable and philanthropic licensees to some of the advertising requirements of the Bill which I will set out as I discuss the amendments. This exemption will alleviate a lot of concerns raised with me about this matter. The reason for the limit of €10,000, for example, is that there is a genuine and real concern that going above €10,000 would create a situation - it is created one way or the other - where charitable organisations and sporting events will have a monopoly on this type of advertising. That is not a problem. The concern is that once a certain figure is exceeded, it will attract bad actors into the charity sector or sporting organisations. For example, someone might set up a darts club as a sports club, just to name it after a particular gambling organisation. We have been looking at that carefully and considering how to address it.

The justice committee unanimously recommended that we would bring in this watershed and that there would be no exemptions. That is written in the report. However, listening to Deputies from that committee, it is clear that their intention was not to include charity and sporting organisations. It is fair to say that, on reflection, the committee would have included exemptions, had the matter been considered at the time. That was raised by Deputy Catherine Murphy in her amendment and by others.

There is an amendment providing for a cap of €10,000. We have been working with our officials to come up with a solution that would allow us to lift that cap so as to allow charities, sporting organisations and other philanthropic organisations, such as community groups, to advertise and be exempted from the watershed, without the risk of attracting bad actors or gambling organisations to use that exemption for their own benefit. Unfortunately, some organisations will use any method they can to take advantage of a situation. The €10,000 limit takes approximately 95% of clubs out of the situation, but not particular charities. I am now confident, having discussed the matter with a number of charities and learned about the particular problems they have, such as the GAA and a number of other organisations that still have a problem with this provision, that I have considered their problems. I have also considered the original recommendations of the justice committee, considering it was not the committee's intention to have no exemptions. We need exemptions and I intend to bring forward amendments when the Bill goes through the Seanad to exempt charities from the watershed. It is not possible to do so today. In conjunction with that, I will bring forward additional amendments to safeguard charities and other organisations from bad actors being able to use that exemption, so that we will not have the example of a gambling company setting up a darts club in its name to start running ads for the club as a way to run ads, or bad actors setting up charities to run gambling activities using the exemption. I am taken by Deputy Catherine Murphy's amendment.

We will introduce amendments in the Seanad to ensure charities and sporting organisations are exempted. We think we have now found a way to ensure those bad actors cannot take advantage of any exemptions.

See this speech in context