Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I take that on board.

Finally, gambling is an issue that was raised by Senators Cassells and Joe O'Reilly on the Order of Business today. We must take on board the evidence we are hearing through our work of people who have relapsed into problem gambling due to anxiety, unemployment or sheer want of something to fill their time. One man spoke bravely on the radio last year about how he had developed an addiction to the national lottery, a problem that is often overlooked and dismissed even though it is a form of gambling, albeit in aid of good causes. The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland recently called the gambling problem over the past year "a hidden epidemic" and a "public health crisis". We must take heed of the advice it has published on how to tackle it. The pervasive advertising of gambling, particularly at weekends and during sports events, the sports events many of us love and to which we are perhaps potentially addicted, is grotesque. We must tackle the gambling epidemic head-on, as it preys on the well-being of vulnerable people across the country.