Rose Conway-Walsh welcomes interim gambling bill, urges stronger law
Rose Conway-Walsh welcomed the interim gambling bill, praising proposed caps of €10 per stake and €750 while urging the minister and government to bring forward more comprehensive gambling control legislation. She criticised reliance on outdated HSE figures and called for an all-Ireland prevalence survey and improved data to inform policy.
Bill welcomed and interim limits
Rose Conway-Walsh described the measure as an interim step and welcomed the proposed caps of €10 on a stake and €750, noting the bill allows the minister to amend these limits in the future. She stressed the importance of regular engagement with organisations dealing with problem gambling to assess whether the limits are effective and pointed out that amending legislation dating back to 1956 shows the urgent need for new regulation.
Call for comprehensive gambling control bill
She asked whether the cabinet had seen and discussed recommendations from the working group that examined the general scheme for the 2013 gambling control bill, and repeated concerns raised in lobbying about why a more comprehensive gambling control bill has not been introduced. She highlighted uncertainty over whether the government accepts the need for an independent, self-financed regulator rather than one attached to the Department of Justice.
Concerns about data and prevalence figures
Rose Conway-Walsh criticised recently released HSE figures as flawed and at variance with new evidence and anecdotal reports, arguing they should not form the basis for policy. She noted differing criteria were used compared with two gambling prevalence surveys in the North and the British Gambling Commission, questioned discrepancies such as a 0.8% problem gambling rate in Dundalk versus 2.3% in Newry, and called for a dedicated all-Ireland problem gambling survey comparable with the North, Scotland, Wales and England. She also warned that the March data are nearly five years old and cited that the South of Ireland has the highest online gambling losses in the world per capita and the third highest gambling losses overall per capita.
Planned amendments and engagement with the minister
She said her colleagues will table amendments at committee stage to address gambling addiction and the bill's lack of measures to tackle it. She acknowledged the minister's openness and previous co-operation on legislation such as the domestic violence bill, and praised recent community work including a project at the National Museum of Country Life in Castlebar and work with a school in Balanagh and the travellers' journey.
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I welcome this bill. I know that it is an interim measure, a minister, before the government intends to bring much more fundamental legislation forward to regulate gambling. Caps of €10 on a stake and €750 are to be welcomed. I see that the bill allows the minister to amend these limits in the future. I think that's important. And it is important as well that you regularly engage with those dealing with problem gambling to see if these limits are having the desired effect. The fact that this bill seeks to amend legislation dating back to 1956 shows how badly needed the new legislation is. Firstly, I want to ask if the cabinet have seen and discussed the recommendations of the working group that was examining the general scheme for the 2013 gambling control bill. Much of the lobbying around this legislation that I have received asks why do the government not just introduce the more comprehensive gambling control bill. We have a scheme of years of engagement with all the relevant bodies in the sector and the report from the working group. But it was uncertain from your comments in this House in February, Minister, when you were responding to a PMB as to whether the government had now accepted the need for an independent, self-financed regulator as opposed to one that's attached to the Department of Justice. When the control of gambling bill does eventually come before the Oireachtas, we have to remember that it is primarily to prevent harmful gambling and regulate the many people who enjoy gambling safely. Many people do gamble responsibly and there are responsible people in the gambling industry who have followed voluntary codes of conduct around age limits, etc. in the absence of actual legislation. I would also ask that before any final decision is taken regarding the gambling control bill that the government reflect on its method of collecting data regarding the prevalence of problem gambling. Recently flawed dated figures were released by the HSE, which are at variance with new evidence and the anecdotal evidence. It cannot be used in good faith as an accurate basis for policy formation. The government used different criteria to assess and identify the scale of the problem gambling to that which was used in two separate gambling prevalence surveys for the North of Ireland and used by the British Gambling Commission. Is the government honestly saying that the problem gambling rate in Dundalk is 0.8% but the problem gambling rate in Newry is 2.3%? This is why an all-Ireland approach to such issues is vital. Sinn Féin wants to see an all-Ireland approach and that is why my own party colleagues through Sinead Innes, the MLA, and Danica O'Leary TD have recently launched an all-Ireland policy document around problem gambling. I want to acknowledge the work done by Lynne Boylan, MEP, on this subject at a European level. Two separate gambling prevalence surveys carried out for the North of Ireland produced similar results, identifying a problem gambling rate of over 2%. Now the government here wants us to believe that on the other side of the invisible line the problem, as I said, is 0.8%. We are talking about identical products, identical people, identical cultures and the government believes that the situation dramatically changes once you cross the border. We need a dedicated problem gambling survey with a straight comparison with the North, with Scotland, with Wales and with England. Furthermore, the data released in March is nearly five years old and it is not good enough to base policy formation on. The South of Ireland has the highest online gambling losses in the world per capita and the third highest gambling losses overall per capita. The recent figures the HSE released do not reflect this and it would make you think that there isn't a problem here. At committee stage we will introduce amendments relating to concerns around gambling addiction and the lack of measures in this bill to tackle it. Minister, I do know and I know from dealing with you and working with you on the domestic violence bill that you are open to producing the best legislation that possibly can be done. I know you understand the seriousness of the problem of gambling addiction as well. I also want to acknowledge, Minister, your work in the project that I attended last Friday in the National Museum of Country Life in Castlebar. I think it is hugely important that work with school in Balanagh and with the travellers' journey. I think it is particularly important in the times when we have moves to the extreme right and all of the negative things that are going on in society. So I do want to acknowledge your contribution to that. Thank you. contribution to that.
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