Gambling failures

WE all know the evils of addiction. In the case of drugs and drink, addicts are victimised by their own compulsions. In turn, they make victims of all those whose lives touch theirs. This is also true of gambling addiction. Those who have been affected, will know how devastating it is to all concerned. Like a cancer, it slowly consumes the addict and is often detected only when it is too late.

Why, then, have we been so remiss in regulating the Irish gambling industry which, according to Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan, is ‘a free-for-all’? The fact that Ireland is, per head of population, No.1 in the world in terms of online gambling losses, should be enough to ensure immediate regulation. Despite publishing the Gambling Control Bill in 2013, the remit for a gambling regulator will only be finalised by the end of this year.

It is not soon enough. For only when the Irish gambling industry follows its UK counterpart in being rigorously regulated and policed, will this silent epidemic be stemmed. Given the Government’s inexcusable delay thus far, it may be safer to assume that all bets are off.