Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State, as always, is welcome to the House, particularly to discuss this important topic. There have been some solid developments since we last debated this during my Private Members’ motion on the regulation of gambling on 27 February 2019. For a start, the report of the interdepartmental working group on the future licensing and regulation of gambling was submitted to the Government, and the Cabinet approved a plan to establish a gambling regulatory authority. To the uninformed listener or viewer, this might have sounded like a radical and progressive development, but we all know the Bill to make this happen has been languishing on a shelf for the past six years.

While it is acknowledged that the gambling control Bill in the form first envisaged by the Government in 2011 is now out of date, this is the legislation on which we should be focusing as a matter of urgency rather than on this Bill which is, at best, a piecemeal measure and, at worst, likely to be subject to legal challenge in the European Court. With a focus on prohibition rather than regulation, it will be seen by many as a regressive rather than progressive step by the sector.

I commend my colleagues in Fianna Fáil who brought forward their own gambling control Bill as a Private Members’ Bill. It proposed a comprehensive new unified licensing and regulatory framework for gambling. It provided for the creation of 43 new licences, covering both land-based and remote gambling activities, as well as for a regulator under the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice and Equality. The Bill had great merits. A failed attempt to introduce piecemeal measures to address gambling concerns in Part 13 of the general scheme of the courts and civil law (miscellaneous provisions) Bill 2017 has now re-emerged as the Bill before us today.

The Minister of State described the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019 as an interim measure until the new gambling control Bill is brought forward. With respect, an interim measure almost eight years since the idea of a gambling control Bill was first discussed by the Government would be laughable if it was not such a serious matter. The interim horse has long since bolted and the introduction of this Bill will have serious unanticipated and, perhaps, unintended consequences for the industry.

The Bill, as proposed, creates a gaming permit, which is primarily designed to facilitate fundraising for charitable or philanthropic purposes. Conditions attached to the permit include that a gaming permit will not be issued to a person for any kind of gaming in which, by reason of the nature of the game, the chances of all the players, including the banker, are not equal. The stake in each game will not be more than €10 for each player. No player may win more than €3,000 in each game, whether that game is conducted in a single or multiple events. No stake will be hazarded by the players with the holder of the gaming permit, other than a charge for the right to take part in the game. Not more than 5% of the total proceeds of the ticket sales will be retained by the holder of a gaming permit in respect of any game.

What this will translate into in reality is the annihilation of an entire segment of the gambling sector. The conditions attached to the gaming permit are of no commercial value and will oblige all 40 private member clubs across Ireland to cease trading. Added to this, the Bill also establishes a gaming licence as a means of enforcing local council directives outlawing gaming at an amusement hall or funfair in its administrative area. The conditions attached would likewise lead to the closure of approximately 100 amusement halls or funfairs. Overall, we are looking at job losses of approximately 3,000 throughout the country, depriving the State of income derived from VAT at 23%, corporate taxation, income tax and employer social contributions, not to mention the impact on tourism. Representatives from the private member clubs and the amusement halls are all in favour of regulation. In fact, they have been lobbying the Minister of State and the Department for more than a decade. They are not in favour of prohibition or measures which would effectively make their businesses commercially unviable, however.

It is a concern that the Bill’s consequences are at variance with the recommendations of the interdepartmental working group report which recommended gambling and gaming should be regulated rather than prohibited. We are now the only one of 28 EU member states which does not regulate gambling in this fashion. By passing this legislation which prohibits rather than regulates, we are running contrary to industry best practice and what international research across Europe is telling us. If this legislation is passed and restrictions are placed on accesses to a gaming licence for amusement halls based on geographical region, it will be in breach of EU legislation as interpreted by the European Court of Justice in 2014. I am concerned no regulatory impact assessment has been provided for this Bill and there was no opportunity for meaningful consultation with the sector before it was introduced. Will the Minister of State advise me why these were not undertaken? I have serious concerns about the way this Bill is being described and framed to be positive when the consequences are disastrous. The Minister of State said the Bill will make arrangements for the better promotion of lotteries, updating certain stake and prize limits and standardising the minimum gambling age at 18. In reality, the Bill will provide for the de factoprohibition of land-based gaming in favour of online betting.

If there is an elephant in the room, it is the online betting sector which gets no mention in this Bill, despite assurances to the contrary three months ago. In December 2018, the Minister of State told The Irish Timeshe planned “to amend the 1956 Act, which deals mainly with gaming machines in amusement arcades, to include the burgeoning area of online gaming”. Why has he not included online gaming and what has changed in three months? The Minister of State is creating a situation where online betting and online gaming remains an unregulated activity. The lack of regulation in Ireland enables online service providers to beam their service into the State without any obligation to offer self-exclusion facilities, time-out facilities or to oblige new customers to set maximum spending limits when opening an online account. In other EU member states, unlicensed online operators are denied access to their citizens by Internet service provider, ISP, blocking. We have nothing comparable here, despite the technology being available to do so.

Common sense tells us that if private member clubs, amusement halls or arcades are put out of business, people will continue to seek opportunities to gamble and game. We already know those with Internet access and mobile devices will migrate to online gaming sites where the known risk of developing a gambling problem is three times greater than in land-based venues. The Bill effectively hands unfair commercial advantage to online operators on a plate. To gamble online, a credit card or debit card is typically required to access funds with which to gamble. The use of credit with no predetermined limits for the purposes of gambling will encourage individuals to gamble beyond their means. Research tells us there are already approximately 45,000 people suffering from a gambling addiction in Ireland. Ireland ranks third in terms of gambling losses per capitaafter Australia and Singapore. However, it ranks first in terms of online gambling losses per capita.Who I am very worried about are the vulnerable persons in society who will be drawn into underground or back-street facilities where they could be exposed to sharp practices and moneylenders offering credit at exorbitant rates.

In February I said the scale of online gambling was fast becoming a crisis of epic proportions. I have since been gathering statistical information to back up this statement. The findings are frightening. It is anticipated that the global online gambling market will generate revenues of more than $74 billion by 2023, with a jump of over 47% in revenue between now and 2023. Our own Paddy Power is one of the top five online providers in the market and the top products are online betting, online casino and online lottery. In that context, I cannot understand why other European countries have successfully regulated the online industry and we have not. The Government is creating the illusion that it intends to regulate or is in the process of regulating it, but the reality is that, sadly, we are no further down the road than we were in 2011, despite the seismic shifts in technology, behaviour and online availability.

I regret that we are spending valuable time on legislation that will do more harm than good. It will undermine livelihoods, put the Government at risk of a legal challenge in the European court, offer zero consumer protection and steadfastly ignores and will contribute to an ever-increasing rise in online problem gambling in Ireland. I am sure that is not the legacy either the Minister of State or the Government wants to have. I am aware of the Minister of State's deep concerns about gambling. I believe he genuinely wants to do something about it, but I am not sure-----