Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

These amendments seek to add two persons whom the authority may enter into an information-sharing agreement with in the performance of its functions. In amendment No. 9, we are seeking the inclusion of the HSE. As we highlighted on Committee Stage, we believe that there should be a capacity for the authority to share information with the HSE. By framing gambling harm through a public health lens, we can begin to understand the adverse impacts of gambling on the health and well-being of individuals, families, communities and wider society. In its inquiry into public health approaches in Northern Ireland to gambling-related harms, the Institute of Public Health suggested that data-sharing agreements should be included as a licensing requirement. There would be significant value to the authority in having this connection with the HSE, given the latter’s expertise in the public health impacts of problem gambling. This could meaningfully help to reduce gambling-related harms.

Amendment No. 10 seeks to include the Central Bank. There are valuable insights that banks can share with the authority in terms of identifying gambling-related activity and suspicious account behaviour. Banks can offer protections to account holders and share valuable information with the authority. Recently, AIB introduced voluntary block features on transactions linked to gambling activity. Sharing the information that allows banks to create these targeted responses to gambling activity would be incredibly useful to the authority. In that context, we hope that the Minister of State will consider these amendments.