Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague. I apologise as I made a mistake and believed we were starting at 4 p.m.

I thank the Leader for scheduling this debate, which I have called for three times. Let us establish first what we are not talking about. We are not talking about the 64% of the population who have the occasional flutter, buy a weekly lottery ticket or play bingo; we are talking about the more than 29% who gamble in a problem way, defined as gambling to a level that compromises, disrupts or damages family, personal or recreational pursuits. The 2019 interdepartmental report on regulation found that problem gambling can be associated with a range of harms, including a higher risk of psychiatric disorders, alcohol and drug misuse, physical and mental health issues, separation and divorce, unemployment and insolvency. All of us know people on whom the scourge of gambling addiction has visited devastation and harm. If Senators want a genuine insight into gambling, they should note that an amazing, riveting read is Tony 10, written by Tony O'Brien, who was himself and addict, and Declan Lynch from the Sunday Independent. It chronicles Tony's decline into the abyss from having a good, secure job and good family and from a first outing with a minuscule bet. His username with Paddy Power was Tony 10 and he became an addicted, self-harming being.

A systematic review of 16 studies on educational intervention found that while we basically need education, we also need limit-setting, as in a maximum amount of time or money that may be spent by an individual. I believe the limit should be €100 per day but that can be debated. Only debit cards, rather than normal credit cards, should be allowed. This is now the policy of the national lottery. Having stated the problem, we must consider solutions. As for the programme for Government, a well-resourced gambling regulator with adequate powers must be put in place along with gambling control legislation. Then we will need actions, including educational programmes and videos for young people in schools, etc. These, however, are not the most effective because young people do not have the problem at that stage. We also need bet limits. These are important. We need win and lose limits. Studies show that only when they are compulsory, irreversible and applicable through all gambling opportunities will these measures work. Also required are pop-up messages in the centre of telephone screens about time spent and losses, messages setting out the probability of winning and losing, an end to free start-up bets for youngsters, which are cynical in the extreme, and health warnings such as those on packets of cigarettes. Messages should be brief and easy to read, and gamblers should have to take action to remove them. Gambling behaviour surveillance, with information on support services, and direct interventions are required. There should be forced interventions that link people to the Gambling Awareness Trust and all the various NGOs and supports.

There is a gambling awareness trust funded by the industry. While that is good, my main focus would be on NGOs and Government agencies being funded independently.I thank the Acting Chairperson for the indulgence and I am sorry I was late. I consider this an extraordinarily serious human issue. The devastation that compulsive and addictive gambling has visited on many of our friends, neighbours and people we all know is enough to say that we, as legislators, have to address the issue urgently by bringing in the gambling control Bill and a gambling regulator.