Dáil committee to consider licensed casinos

Plans to legalise and regulate casinos are likely to come before a Dáil select committee.

A report on the issue, commissioned by former minister for justice Michael McDowell and produced more than a year ago, is due to go to the Cabinet in the "near future", a Government spokesman said.

Sources said yesterday that the Cabinet was likely to pass the report on to a Dáil select committee for consideration before taking any action on the issue.

It is not clear which Dáil committee will consider the report, but it was suggested that either the Committee on Justice, Equality and Law Reform or the Committee on Finance and the Public Service were the most likely candidates.

Casinos are illegal in the Republic except where they function as private members' clubs. About 19 of these are in operation here. The larger casinos have membership running into the tens of thousands.

David Hickson, director of the Gaming and Leisure Association of Ireland, which represents 12 of these businesses, urged the Government yesterday to press ahead and introduce a regulatory regime for the industry.

"At the moment, anybody can set up shop as a casino and we run the risk that the wrong type of people will get involved. What we want is a system like they have in the UK, where there are proper background checks done on people before they are licensed."

A number of clubs opened earlier this year in anticipation of a change in the law, but some have since closed.

In August 2006, Mr McDowell appointed a committee chaired by barrister Michael McGrath to look at ways of regulating the sector, despite previously saying he wanted the businesses banned altogether. The group issued its report after three months.

In response to a recent parliamentary question, Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan said the report would go to Cabinet in the near future.