Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chair. I thank my colleague, Senator Ahearn, for allowing me to go ahead of him.

I say "well done" to the Minister of State on this Bill because it is a long time in the making and I know how much work and effort he has put into it in the past number of years. I want to say at the outset that it will certainly be a very positive legacy once it is passed.

I very much support this Bill. I am probably in the lucky position in that I do not know very many people who have had gambling addictions, despite the statistics we have heard from colleagues here earlier on. Of the ones I know, it is one of the most insidious addictions. I am quite sure there is no good addiction but it is one of the most insidious addictions I have ever seen anyone suffer from. There is a programme on Netflix at the moment which very much brings it home. I know it is a television programme but it is called "Cleaning Up". It is about a young woman who cleans offices and is completely addicted to casinos on her phone. As Senator Cassells said, it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch that depiction of how much of a grip it has on her. She has not a bean in her pocket and will do absolutely everything she has to do to get money to feed that addiction. We must do whatever we can do regardless of how many agencies tell us the Bill is bad and that we should not go that far; we absolutely need to go as far as we need to to ensure that we get people the help that we can and curb whatever access big business - which is what it is - has here to get access to people using the Internet these days.

The Minister of State might have a look at one area though if he does not mind. I come from a bingo family. My nanny played bingo when I was a kid. She had a lorry load of grandchildren and we probably got presents from her because she would win a few bob. As Senator Mullen has said, it was one of the most sociable things they did in the day when people did not have a great deal of money. It was not a case of going out and winning big.

My own father, God rest him, was a big bingo advocate. We would go to the White House every Thursday evening and the three women who would sit beside Daddy, bought a pot of tea and brought their own biscuits in their pockets. It is not about winning big snowballs but is about having somewhere to go every week which does not cost the earth and where one can have the bit of craic and win a few bob. I ask that the Minister of State reconsider the €10 cap he is speaking about particularly with regard to bingo.

Again, other colleagues spoke about the national lottery. I am not entirely sure if "Telly Bingo" is included in this Bill or not. I ask the Minister of State to have a look at the Bill if it is. During the Covid-19 period when everything shut down, "Telly Bingo" was an enormous lifeline in our household. Daddy would go up and not just buy for the live "Telly Bingo" but he would buy a second round of bingo for the Plus draws because it would give him something else to do of an afternoon where there was nowhere else to go and nothing else to do. For many people, that is the only entertainment they have. I am not sure if that is considered addiction or is just a social outlet but the €10 bet curb will have a significant impact on those people who have nothing else to do except to go to their local bingo halls on a Sunday or Thursday night, or to do "Telly Bingo" once a week.

I ask the Minister of State to look at the overall cap. Could he also be a little bit clearer for me on what the actual scope of the regulator would be? What are the limits of oversight that will be available to them? Are we hindering their ability to react and to be responsive because we are putting stuff in primary legislation or should we allow them to have the powers to be able to regulate with the Minister of State's office through statutory instrument, as and when they see something working, not working or that needs to be changed? I would love to hear further comments on that please.