Mark Wall (Labour)
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I welcome the Minister of State to the House on this important matter. I thank him for his work to date.

When I spoke at Tiglin, I suggested that nobody can accept that the tokenistic ‘small print’ warnings and invitations to be ‘responsible’ are in any way in proportion to the possible damage being inflicted by the lure of sports gambling ads. There are serious questions, ones that are surely in the public interest to have answered, as to how such a high degree of saturation of the media landscape by sports betting advertisements has arisen, when the evidence of the damage being inflicted is so obvious and should be a concern to us all.

Those are the words of our President. It is the second time in the past two weeks he has raised what he describes as the dangerous gambling advertisements which, he has said, are causing damage to families and individuals.

Our President is once again speaking for so many of us in this country. Since introducing into the Seanad the Labour Party Gambling (Prohibition of Advertising) Bill 2021 and beginning a conversation about the number of gambling ads, I have been inundated with calls and emails from people all over the country who want to talk about their experiences or simply want to be able to watch their favourite sport without having to wade through advertisement after advertisement encouraging them to gamble. That is what is happening, as I am sure the Minister of State has noticed. In a recent online survey we carried out, 80% of respondents stated they have noticed an increase in gambling ads throughout their media.

Next Thursday, 5 July, will be the eighth anniversary of the Gambling Control Bill 2013. I note from recent press releases and the Minister of State's words when he last visited this House that he intends bringing a gambling control Bill through the Oireachtas by the end of the year. I respectfully state on behalf of so many that we cannot wait that long to ban gambling advertisements.

Estimates are that Ireland spends €9.8 billion per year, marking it as out as the world's seventh biggest spender on gambling per head. The industry needs urgent regulation due to the large increases in those reporting gambling addiction problems and those suffering in silence, afraid to reach out for help or, more worryingly, thinking they can gamble their way out of their problems. One of the most worrying results in the Labour Party survey was that almost 65% said they were more inclined to gamble after seeing these ads. That figure will please the gambling companies but should set off alarm bells for our public health system. From the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland to gambling addiction support advocates such as Oisin McConville, Niall McNamee and Davy Glennon and now our President, there has been a consistent recent message: we must get rid of the number of gambling ads in this country. A survey carried out by thejournal.ieover the weekend had more than 88% of respondents supporting a ban on gambling ads on TV. Action must be taken.

I have spoken to many citizens who have lost so much as a result of gambling from loving partnerships to family homes to jobs. It is important to remind ourselves that those most affected by the tsunami of gambling ads are real people who initially gamble for fun or take up one of the many offers from gambling companies to open a new account and, unfortunately, cannot control their habit. This highly addictive behaviour takes over and, in many cases, ruins their lives. We need to do more for the estimated 40,000 people in this country who have developed a gambling addiction and for those who may add to that figure because of the continuous and unrelenting advertising they face daily.

What disturbs me most is that there is no watershed on gambling in this country. Our children and young adults are being exposed to a highly addictive behaviour. We have many stories of children as young as six, especially when they were being homeschooled, asking parents what these ads were about. The normalisation of sporting gambling continues apace by the marketing departments of the gambling companies and we must break that association. We need to enact the Gambling (Prohibition of Advertising) Bill 2021. We have to stop the bombardment of gambling advertisements. The time for talking has long passed. We have had eight years of that.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I congratulate Deputy Bacik. I have had the pleasure of dealing with her in here over the past year on justice issues. She is a huge loss to the Seanad given her forensic analysis of justice legislation and ability to improve the legislation we have introduced. I look forward to engaging with her in the Dáil.

I thank Senator Wall for raising this important issue. He has made this a hugely important matter for himself since he came into the Seanad and is committed to seeking gambling reform.

The programme for Government gives a clear commitment to comprehensively reform the licensing and regulation of gambling activities. That reform will establish a gambling regulator focused on public safety and well-being. It is important to understand that this regulator will not only regulate the industry in general terms, but will have a public health remit as the primary focus in every decision or recommendation he or she makes.

When I was appointed last September, I had listened to proposals and promises around reforming gambling for 20 years. As far back as 2007, the appointment of a gambling regulator was an issue in the general election. It has not happened. I set out last September clear timelines and milestones to get this done comprehensively and we are on schedule for that. We will publish a new scheme in September and have a CEO-designate, in effect a regulator, appointed by the end of this year. There is a clear path towards the regulator being operational in early 2023.

The legislation will empower the independent gambling regulator to develop regulations, codes of conduct and codes of practice on various issues relating to gambling, including advertising. I expect a particular focus from the regulator on appropriate standards for advertising and customer protection by gambling operators. These codes will be part of a range of conditions that the operators will need to adhere to and to enjoy the benefits of.The regulator will have the power to impose fines where codes of conducts and regulations are not being complied with and to remove a licence or block the various sites if in breach of the regulations and the guidelines. When appointed, the regular will be powerful and will be backed up with supports of comprehensive legislation.

As the Senator will be aware, under existing law, licensed gambling operators are entitled to advertise their products and currently advertising does not come with the remit of the Department of Justice but the intention is to bring gambling advertising under the remit of the Department and the regulator. Currently, it comes under the remit of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. The general regulation of advertising in the media is, as I say, currently a matter for the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland under the remit of the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. There are no specific statutory requirements in regard to gambling activities, but all advertisements must meet the basic requirements of being truthful and to not mislead any potential customer. How the new gambling operator might operate specific advertising regulations for the gambling industry will be informed by the report of the interdepartmental working group on the future of licensing and regulation of gambling approved by the Government on 20 March 2019. The report noted that there are various issues involved in developing an effective approach to advertising on gambling products. There are challenges around banning advertising on gambling. A ban is certainly on the table but given much of the horse racing and other sports televised during daytime or at the weekend comes from other countries, finding a way to effectively ban advertising will be challenging. I am conscious of what the UK is doing in terms of a review, including in regard to sports sponsorship.

In developing the new legislation, my objective is to provide enhanced consumer protection for players and to limit harmful effects on young people and those susceptible to addiction. We must ensure that gambling will be safe, fair and crime-free. The legislation will be comprehensive. The regulator will be powerful and advertising will be a central plank in all of that work.

Mark Wall (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for his kind comments in regard to Deputy Bacik. The Labour Party is very proud of her. I have no doubt that she will be a loss to the Seanad but a great asset in the Dáil when she takes up her seat.

On gambling, I welcome that the Minister of State said the gambling regulator will have a public health remit because it is public health that is most affected by the outcomes of gambling. I know he is very aware of that. We need to look at what is happening in the public health area. The Minister of State mentioned timelines. I ask him to confirm in his response that a regulator will be in place by the end of the year. It is important there is someone in situ. Previous reports mentioned 2022 and 2023. I ask the Minister of State to confirm when the regulator will be place.

I agree there will be challenges but we need to meet them face-on. The saturation and tokenistic approaches of gambling companies need to end. I am sure the Minister of State is as passionate about that as I am. We have to be passionate for those affected most.

James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Senator. The CEO-designate will be the gambling regulator and he or she will be appointed by the end of this year. The new scheme will be published in September. The regulator is expected to have up to 100 employees to support him or her and to implement the legislation. The legislation is making its way through the Houses. We want the regulator in place so that the necessary regulations to underpin that legislation can be developed. Following enactment of the legislation, the regulator will be up and running, fully staffed and with all the powers he or she feels are necessary. The regulations can be signed off within a matter of weeks such that we will not find ourselves in the situation whereby the legislation is enacted but we are waiting a number of years for regulations. The public health remit of the gambling regulator is critical. It will inform every decision to be made by the regulator. There will be a social fund as well. The gambling industry that is benefiting currently from certain practices from which people are suffering will now pay into a social fund that will pay for education, research and, critically, treatment. Those who are benefitting will pay as well for the supports that are necessary.