The Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019 Progresses in The Assembly of Ireland

The Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill, Irish legislation for the country’s betting and gaming sector, has progressed to the committee stage in the Dáil Éireann, aka the lower house of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament).

Designed to update Ireland’s 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Amendment Act, this bill will set maximum gaming machine stakes and prizes at 10€ and 750€ respectively. It will also formally impose an age restriction of 18 years on betting and gaming products and establish a new, improved licensing system for lotteries.

Limited Scope of The Bill

Earlier this week, during the second reading of the bill in the Dáil, a motion to refer the legislation to the Select Committee on Justice and Equality was proposed and accepted. The bill has already been approved by the Seanad Éireann, the upper house of the Irish Parliament.

While Deputies were largely ive of the bill, many expressed disappointment at its narrow scope.

Jim O’Callaghan, Fianna Fáil Deputy said:

“We believe there is a need for much more thorough control and regulation of gambling. Regrettably, the legislation before us deals only with very small aspects of the issues concerning gambling that are problematic in this country.”

Others criticized delays in implementing legislation which was first proposed in 2013, but David Stanton, Minister of State, said that the 2013 proposal was never drafted.

“One of the things I have discovered even during the course of this bill is that it is extremely complex to draft. It takes a long time. I was involved in the pre-legislative scrutiny phase through the committee at the time. Since then, things have changed again.” – Stanton said.

Addressing the limited scope of the bill…

…he noted that work on the Gambling Control Bill, which will replace the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019 and establish a dedicated regulatory authority for the market, is ongoing. This new body will oversee licensing and enforcement activities, establish advertising standards, customer monitoring, and customer protection measures for the sector.

ALSO…

…according to Stanton, the Gambling Control Bill is currently being developed by lawmakers, though it is unlikely to be presented to the Oireachtas before 2020.

Negative Effects of 2% Turnover Tax

Meanwhile, Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, confirmed that the work on the alternative tax system for independent bookmakers to replace the 2% turnover tax in place since January this year is ongoing. He had numerous meetings with representatives of independent bookmakers and with operators to gather their views on this system.

The industry has long warned about the negative effects of the 2% turnover tax and that it could lead to shop closures and thousands of job losses. The independent bookmaking sector has provided an alternative proposal to this tax bill and Donohoe said that he is “now engaging with the European Commission to ascertain whether that can be implemented.”

Source:

“Irish gaming bill progresses in Dail”, igamingbusiness.com, June 20, 2019.