Michael D'Arcy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As other speakers have said, this Bill is certainly welcome. It has been a long time coming. I will not go over ground already covered by other contributors, but the sooner the gambling control Bill comes before us the better. I have to be blunt in saying that online betting, poker and casinos are doing terrible damage to young males in particular. There is a considerable amount of gambling addiction under the surface, and analysis of the data has been insufficient to gauge the extent of its impact on the public.

The Department of Finance hates the idea of any moneys being ring-fenced; it wants all the money to come into the general coffers to be reallocated. However, some of these moneys should be ring-fenced, as with the drink and tobacco industries, to help people with addiction problems. We should examine that matter either in this Bill or in subsequent legislation.

I do not consider myself to be a stick-in-the-mud by any manner or means, but we should seek to bar under-18s from gambling premises. My experience is that anything goes in betting shops. I have seen children in betting shops all around the country and it is not good enough.

I do not agree with the extension of the opening hours of betting shops from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. I realise that online betting is available 24-7 but that does not mean that we should open up all the betting shops on every main street. It will not have any beneficial impact on those who participate in the industry.

The betting world has expanded. A recent report showed that the largest political bets placed anywhere were on last week's referendum on Scottish independence.

The US presidential election was not in the same league.

The betting world is expanding into other areas and sectors outside the areas in which we do very well in this country - greyhound and horse racing. Virtual racing should be banned, although I know that this Bill is probably not the legislative vehicle in which that should be done. I have a real problem with virtual racing. One might as well throw all of the chips in the air and declare whoever catches the lucky one to be the winner because that is what it is like and it is something we should exclude. We have heard that there is chicanery in cricket, greyhound racing and horse racing. I am not particularly concerned for the person. I do not believe set opening hours are required, but under-age requirements should be stiffer and we should get rid of virtual gambling, with which I have a difficulty.