David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I have been extensively briefed by a former Minister and Deputy, Mr. Dick Roche, who has taken a particular interest in this issue. I would like to concentrate particularly on gaming and the operators of casinos and slot machines. I refer to the situation in Dublin. On O'Connell Street there is an absolutely enormous casino. Around the corner there is another enormous casino on Parnell Street. It is really pretty ghastly. In the old days there were bookies and that was it. Now there are these enormous gambling establishments, some of which actually give money back to compulsive gamblers to encourage them to continue. It is shocking. There is an absolute absence of morality.

With regard to gaming machines and so on, the key legislation governing gaming operations in Ireland, the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, is being flagrantly broken in every single part of the country. Operators are being allowed to openly break the law. Tens of millions of euros in licence fees, moneys which could fund much-needed addiction services, are not being collected. There is every reason to question whether proper value added tax, VAT, is being collected. Questionable licensing decisions have been made in the District Courts. Garda activity in applying the law has virtually come to a standstill and the Revenue Commissioners, which have been active of late, have questions to answer about why the excise services waited so long to become active.

The Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 sets out the conditions in which it is legal to operate a gaming machine in a gaming establishment. The licensing of amusement facilities, which are often run side by side with gaming, is set out in the Finance Act 1992. While the 1956 Act is regarded by many as outdated, the fact remains that it is the law and the disturbing reality is that it is being flagrantly and openly broken. Illegal gaming establishments are being allowed to operate with impunity while millions of euros in revenue are denied to the Exchequer. There is also the major question of how VAT is treated.

Industry sources suggest that there are between 30,000 and 40,000 gaming machines in operation across the country. Every gaming machine requires an annual gaming machine licence. In 2018, a total of 12,112 gaming machine licences were issued. Some 4,326 annual licences, costing €505 each, and remarkably 7,787 three-month licences, costing €145 each, were issued. In other words, there are far more gaming machines in operation than licences. To get a gaming licence an operator must apply to the District Court for a certificate for a gaming licence. The court may issue a certificate only where the relevant authority has adopted Part III of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956. This is an essential and crucial Part. Only when Part III has been adopted can certificates be legally issued. When a certificate is issued, the operator must apply to the revenue for the licence. Part III of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 is operational only in small areas of the country. For example, Part III does not apply in Dublin city or county except for parts of Skerries and Balbriggan. Any gaming machine operating where Part III has not been adopted is operating illegally. How can thousands of gaming machines for which there cannot possibly be licences by virtue of their location remain in operation? There are thousands of machines operating in Dublin, where it is not possible to get a gaming licence.

Major questions must also be asked about the role of An Garda Síochána. Why have there been few, if any, prosecutions in recent years? What has An Garda Síochána been doing? Why is the level of Garda activity in the area declining? In 2012, there were 96 cases of what the Garda describes as recorded crime incidents. The Garda is very coy about providing any information about prosecutions. The number of recorded crime incidents was 61 in 2010, 47 in 2013, 14 in 2014 and 13 in 2017. There is a constant decline in the number of recorded incidents.

As mentioned, the Revenue Commissioners issue the licences for gaming machines and premises. The Revenue Commissioners have been active in recent times, seizing gaming machines in a number of high-profile raids. There are still questions to answer, however. Why has it taken so long to take action? Many of the premises raided in Dublin have been openly operating since 1988 when Dublin Corporation, as it then was, banned gaming machines from the city. That is about 30 years. Why have only a small proportion of the gaming machines operating in each of the venues raided been seized? Other than seizing machines, what further action will be taken? Will prosecutions follow? There is no evidence of that, despite repeated questions from Deputy Mick Wallace in the Dáil. Will back levies and taxes be collected? What form of licence, if any, did Revenue issue for the machines that did not have gaming machine licences? Is Revenue effectively giving cover to gaming operators by issuing amusement machine licences for what are actually gaming machines? What licence fees did Revenue collect? An annual gaming machine licence costs €505 per machine. An amusement machine licence costs €125. How was VAT charged on the machines for which operators did not have gaming machine licences?

There is disturbing evidence that in at least one instance, a District Court issued a licence for a premises in County Dublin where Part III of the 1956 Act is not operational. It is quite clear that the court should have turned down the certificate application. It seems the court was in defiance of the law.