Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome my good friend and colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to the House, of which he is a former Member. I am delighted he is back here in his ministerial capacity at the Department of Health. I was happy to have heard in recent days the good tidings that a gambling regulation Bill and the establishment of a gambling regulator may be imminent. I have advocated very strongly, with others, for such measures for a long time. It is good news and it will deal with an important facet of the gambling problem in Ireland.

I want to address a distinct part of that problem today, namely, the situation of those who suffer from a gambling addiction and those who engage in problem gambling. The two groups are very closely related. First, I would like to hear from the Minister of State that he accepts that addiction to gambling is an illness and, as such, is a matter for, and the clear responsibility of, the Department of Health.The Department of Justice has responsibility for the gambling Bill and the gambling regulator, but addiction to gambling is a distinct Department of Health issue and I would like the Minister of State to accept that. What specific services are available from the Department of Health and the HSE for persons with addiction to gambling, including counselling, residential care or care wherever is required? What services are ring-fenced for gambling addiction? How many people were treated in the past year for an addiction to gambling by the health services? Critically, what are the future plans in this sphere? I know the Minister of State is ambitious to achieve in the Department. What does he see the Department doing in the future to expand and develop services?

Addiction to gambling has to be dealt with as a separate and tragic reality and something outside of all law and regulation and everything else one deals with to prevent it in the future or minimise it. The condition has to be dealt with separately. We have to have evidence that the Department of Health and the HSE recognise that and that there are specific services, as we know there are for other similar difficulties, which are all functioning. Not only that, money must be ring-fenced specifically for addiction to gambling and a strategy must be put in place to dealt with this in the future. It is no different from any other addiction. It is an illness and has to be defined and treated as such. Every estimate from various sources of the number with the problem in Ireland is not less than 30,000. It is a sad and living reality all around us. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.