Frances Black (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 71 to 73, inclusive, seek three additions of persons that the authority may enter into an information-sharing agreement with in the performance of its functions.

Amendment No. 71 seeks to add the Data Protection Commission. As we referred to in amendment No. 58, gambling companies are engaging in massive amounts of data mining and profiling in regard to users of their services. It is appropriate that the authority should be facilitated to refer the mechanisms and nature of this data gathering to the Data Protection Commission in order that it might, at its discretion, investigate such activity. Similarly, given the increasingly predatory nature of gambling companies creating personalised user profiles through access to their browsing history, spending habits and behavioural information, it seems sensible that if the Data Protection Commission had concerns regarding the collection of this data, it might engage the authority in an information-sharing agreement.

Amendment No. 72 would add the Health Service Executive. By framing gambling harms through a public health lens, we can begin to understand the adverse impacts from gambling on the health and well-being of individuals, families, communities and wider society. According to the Health Research Board, the available evidence suggests that a public health approach to gambling can reduce gambling-related harms via the regulation of access to gambling through to the screening of individuals at risk and the provision of services for individuals with an identified gambling problem. The Institute of Public Health, in its inquiry into public health approaches in Northern Ireland to gambling-related harms, suggested that a data-sharing agreement should be included as a licensing requirement. While our amendment only suggests information sharing between the HSE and the authority, the suggestion from the Institute of Public Health speaks to the value that information sharing can have with regard to a public health approach to gambling harms. Further data considerations highlighted by the IPH included the sharing of data relating to hospital admissions, including psychiatric episodes, self-harm and attempted suicide, that are related to gambling. This type of information sharing could provide valuable insights to the authority.

Amendment No. 73 would include the Central Bank. AIB recently introduced voluntary block features on debit and credit card transactions, which are classified as linked to gambling. Banks can identify gambling-related activity. They can identify suspicious behaviour. There are protections that banks can provide related to gambling activity and valuable information that could be shared with the authority that could help prevent people burning through their savings.