Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House on this important matter. I thank him for his work to date.

When I spoke at Tiglin, I suggested that nobody can accept that the tokenistic ‘small print’ warnings and invitations to be ‘responsible’ are in any way in proportion to the possible damage being inflicted by the lure of sports gambling ads. There are serious questions, ones that are surely in the public interest to have answered, as to how such a high degree of saturation of the media landscape by sports betting advertisements has arisen, when the evidence of the damage being inflicted is so obvious and should be a concern to us all.

Those are the words of our President. It is the second time in the past two weeks he has raised what he describes as the dangerous gambling advertisements which, he has said, are causing damage to families and individuals.

Our President is once again speaking for so many of us in this country. Since introducing into the Seanad the Labour Party Gambling (Prohibition of Advertising) Bill 2021 and beginning a conversation about the number of gambling ads, I have been inundated with calls and emails from people all over the country who want to talk about their experiences or simply want to be able to watch their favourite sport without having to wade through advertisement after advertisement encouraging them to gamble. That is what is happening, as I am sure the Minister of State has noticed. In a recent online survey we carried out, 80% of respondents stated they have noticed an increase in gambling ads throughout their media.

Next Thursday, 5 July, will be the eighth anniversary of the Gambling Control Bill 2013. I note from recent press releases and the Minister of State's words when he last visited this House that he intends bringing a gambling control Bill through the Oireachtas by the end of the year. I respectfully state on behalf of so many that we cannot wait that long to ban gambling advertisements.

Estimates are that Ireland spends €9.8 billion per year, marking it as out as the world's seventh biggest spender on gambling per head. The industry needs urgent regulation due to the large increases in those reporting gambling addiction problems and those suffering in silence, afraid to reach out for help or, more worryingly, thinking they can gamble their way out of their problems. One of the most worrying results in the Labour Party survey was that almost 65% said they were more inclined to gamble after seeing these ads. That figure will please the gambling companies but should set off alarm bells for our public health system. From the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland to gambling addiction support advocates such as Oisin McConville, Niall McNamee and Davy Glennon and now our President, there has been a consistent recent message: we must get rid of the number of gambling ads in this country. A survey carried out by thejournal.ieover the weekend had more than 88% of respondents supporting a ban on gambling ads on TV. Action must be taken.

I have spoken to many citizens who have lost so much as a result of gambling from loving partnerships to family homes to jobs. It is important to remind ourselves that those most affected by the tsunami of gambling ads are real people who initially gamble for fun or take up one of the many offers from gambling companies to open a new account and, unfortunately, cannot control their habit. This highly addictive behaviour takes over and, in many cases, ruins their lives. We need to do more for the estimated 40,000 people in this country who have developed a gambling addiction and for those who may add to that figure because of the continuous and unrelenting advertising they face daily.

What disturbs me most is that there is no watershed on gambling in this country. Our children and young adults are being exposed to a highly addictive behaviour. We have many stories of children as young as six, especially when they were being homeschooled, asking parents what these ads were about. The normalisation of sporting gambling continues apace by the marketing departments of the gambling companies and we must break that association. We need to enact the Gambling (Prohibition of Advertising) Bill 2021. We have to stop the bombardment of gambling advertisements. The time for talking has long passed. We have had eight years of that.