Stake and win limits proposed by proposed new gambling legislation discriminate against casinos and risk driving their customers to the black market, according to a leading industry figure.
The Government’s Gambling Regulation Bill, which the Oireachtas is still debating, proposes limiting bets on gaming machines, live tables such as blackjack and roulette, and lotteries to €10 and winnings to €3,000.
Industry figures argue that these provisions discriminate against businesses, including casinos, as they say they do not apply to sports betting or the National Lottery, which is governed by different legislation.
Debbie Quirke, chief executive of the Carlton Entertainment Group which owns the Carlton Casino on O’Connell Street, Dublin, says the company supports the Bill’s general aims, but warns that the stake and win limits will hit her business unfairly.
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She also argues that the measures do not reflect the reality that other forms of betting are more likely to give rise to the problem gambling that the limits are supposed to counter in the first place.
Ms Quirke points out that a recent Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) study, frequently cited by Government, calculates that about 22 per cent of problem gamblers engage in online slot machine and casino gaming.
“But that drops to zero per cent in person,” she says. Ms Quirke explains that her staff are trained to spot people with problems and interact with customers all the time.
Carlton will offer refer people with problems for treatment and, where customers ask the business to exclude them, it will apply this strictly, according to its chief executive.
“This [legislation] will push more people into the online sphere and to unlicensed operators where they could end up funding criminal gangs,” Ms Quirke says.
She said she had attempted to raise the issue with Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and James Browne, her Minister of State colleague, who is responsible for the legislation.
However, Ms Quirke maintains there was minimal communication with her industry, despite department claims that it engaged in “extensive consultation”.
Groups including the Irish Bookmakers Association, Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment and Ladbrokes parent Entain, appeared at the Oireachtas justice committee. But Ms Quirke argues that politicians focused only on the industry’s bigger players, not on smaller businesses like hers.
The Department of Justice said the new Gambling Regulatory Authority, which the Bill establishes, can vary the limits with the Minister’s consent. It added that the limits were not new and were a direct continuation of the measures in the Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1956, which the Government updated in 2019.
The new law bans unlicensed operators and threatens “significant custodial sentences” for breaches of these provisions, according to the department.
Its statement also confirmed that the law will not apply to the National Lottery, which already has its own regulator and is subject to the National Lottery Act 2013.
The Government appointed senior civil servant, Anne Marie Caulfield, as chief executive designate of the new gambling regulatory authority two years ago.
Ms Quirke stresses that businesses like hers support the new Bill’s aims and believe proper regulation of the industry is overdue. However, she maintains that the win and stake limits are flawed and will simply drive problem gambling underground.
“The Government are just not thinking this through,” she says.
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