‘Non-stop, incessant’ lobbying to water down Ireland’s proposed gambling laws

Politicians are facing intense lobbying over proposed new gambling laws, which the Government says are needed to tackle a “tsunami of social problems”.

Under proposed gambling laws, measures include a ban on advertising during the day, the establishment of a social-impact fund to support problem gambling initiatives, and the creation of the country’s first gambling regulator with sweeping powers in the sector.

Analysis of the lobbying register so far this year shows significant lobbying of politicians in Leinster House around gambling legislation which is still making its way through the Oireachtas.

Professor Colin O’Gara, a consultant psychiatrist and head of addiction services at St John of God Hospital, told the Irish Examiner there has been “non-stop, incessant pressure” from the gambling sector on junior justice minister James Browne to water down the bill.