Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will.

I make these comments with respect, especially for Senator O’Reilly, who has done a great deal to highlight this issue for years, but it is important to clarify what we are seeking in these amendments. They are not about making the Bill more prescriptive or narrower. Rather, they are meant to widen the authority’s mandate and ensure that it does not run up against claims that it is only meant to be doing X or Y. It should be able to do the kinds of work it needs to do. We leave the detail of how it does so to the authority. I have seen time and again with other regulators and authorities that, if we do not get the mandate right and give them enough scope, there is pushback and they are told that they are going beyond their remit. The authority must have clear permission to consider issues of compulsive and problem gambling and to look at new technologies. This would allow the authority to allocate resources to those issues as it sees fit.

My final point is on a small, but important, matter. As Senator O’Reilly mentioned, dealing with the impacts on those affected by gambling is important. The social impact fund is a brilliant innovation. A similar fund should have been attached to the digital levy, but this is a good aspect of the Bill. To use the smoking analogy, it is the difference between programmes to help people quit smoking, which is the social impact fund in this case, and requirements on those selling cigarettes to include warnings, which is what we are doing here in respect of licensees.There is also the piece on public awareness of the problem which is that separately, we tell people about the problems of smoking before they even start. In terms of gambling, it is about telling people it can be habit-forming before they start it and telling them it is not always just recreational and fun and games. It is about sending that signal, including to children because we know the early ways in which one can engage with gambling have an impact. It is not just dealing with those who already have problems with addiction or compulsion but seeking to prevent people entering into gambling without knowing the dangers. That is why I am looking for that extra tier.

I apologise to the Acting Chair. I will not be coming back too often but I wanted to clarify those premises.