It seems fair to say that we live in interesting times.  Fine Gael and Fianna Fail's "love that dare not speak its name" has finally come to fruition; a serial-bankrupt, day-glo builder has been selected to rule the world; and a sports-show, funded by a betting firm, discusses gambling addiction three times over the course of one week.  If you've been preparing for The Rapture, it's probably time to put on your Sunday best.  

The sports-show in question is Newstalk's highly-popular Off The Ball.  Last Sunday (27th November), they began their series of discussions with Declan Lynch.  Declan had written an article in that day's Irish Independent, entitled: "Is it the right time to derail our gambling supertrain?"  Declan has long been at the forefront of raising awareness around gambling addiciton in Ireland and doesn't pull any punches when it comes to highlighting some of the questionable practices of the gambling industry.  

At the time, I thought that this was a brave, if somewhat tokenistic move, on the part of the show's producers.  Imagine my surprise when, just a few days later (1st December), Ger Gilroy interviewed recovering gambling addict and Tyrone footballer, Cathal McCarron, on the same show.  Ger begins by saying: "I think that it's incredibly important that we talk about  gambling addiction  and about the industry, as well, particularly as, in the sports media, we have a very close relationship with the betting industry and sometimes that can be uncomfortable for us.  On a personal level I have seen the devastation that gambling has wreaked on families and on careers."  Ger goes on to show himself to be sensitive to, and knowledgable about, the harm caused by gambling addiction.  

Just when I was beginning to think that Christmas had come early - ALL of my Christmases came together.  This manifested itself in the form of a third discussion on gambling addiction on yesterday's show (3rd December).  The panel discussion included Declan Lynch, as well as addiction treatment specialist, Dr Garrett McGovern and recovering substance addict and poker afficionado, John Leonard (AKA, Sober Paddy).  The discussion was wide-ranging, intelligent and nuanced.  They covered everything from harm-prevention and harm-reduction to the pros and cons of the 12-step treatment model, gambling advertising and the "gamblification" of sport and the sports media.  [By "gamblification", I mean the process by which the gambling industry has embedded itself into sporting bodies and media organisations by getting them hooked on their cold, hard cash.]

By the end of the week, I had to take a long, hard look at myself.  This no longer looked, sounded or smelled like tokenistic box-ticking from Off The Ball.  In fact, this had the whiff of a group of people who might actually genuinely care about the harm that is caused by gambling in this country, while also struggling with the fact that they (and many of their colleagues) are overly-dependent on gambling industry funding.  

As an addiction counsellor, I am always looking out for dysfunctional "Black & White Thinking" in my clients.  This sort of binary thinking is often a strong indicator of the type of cognitive distortions which can lead to addictions and other issues.  "Life is lived in the Grey", I can hear myself saying, over and over again.  However, when seeing the harm caused by gambling and other addictions on a regular basis, it can be easy to slip into a Good Guys vs Bad Guys mindset - or, in other words: "If you're not with us, you're agin' us!".    

As I work through my own internal conflict on this one, I have to commend Ger Gilroy and the rest of the Off The Ball team on grappling with the Horns of their own Dilemma.  It can't be easy to watch the increasing harm caused by gambling in Irish society, while at the same time deal with the financial realities of commercial radio.  At least by acknowledging that the "close relationship" can be "uncomfortable" for them, they, to my mind, are making a step in the right direction.  As workers in the addiction field will often tell you, "The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem".  

Discussion on gambling starts around half-way through the clip.  

In 2013, the Heads of the Gambling Control Bill were published.  The purpose of the proposed legislation is to replace the out-of-date and un-fit for purpose, Betting Act 1931 and the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956.  The proposed legislation seeks to regulate gambling in order to ensure:

• fairness in the conduct of gambling,
• the protection of vulnerable persons, including children, from risks to their well being arising from gambling,
• the avoidance of circumstances where gambling could, inadvertently or otherwise, facilitate or enable criminal or illegal activity,
• consumer choice and protection 

Alan Shatter, then Minister for Justice stated that "Under the new law, anyone offering a gambling service to anyone in the State, by whatever means and regardless of whether the operator is based in the State or elsewhere, must have a licence.  A new executive agency will act as both the licensing authority and regulator for the sector, and will have responsibility for checking compliance and in enforcing the law generally."  He went on to say  "I am committed in particular to ensuring that there are effective and robust safeguards in place to protect young people and those for whom gambling has become a problem. The Bill introduces a range of new measures including the introduction of age restrictions; staff training; controls on advertising, promotions and sponsorship; the establishment of a new Social Gambling Fund to assist with treatment services; a new complaints procedure for consumers; and new arrangements to assist consumers seeking compensation from a licence holder."

All of these proposed measures would be welcomed by Problem Gambling Ireland, as the current vacuum in legislation only serves to create an environment where gambling-related harm can thrive.  A dedicated Gambling Regulator with the power to press criminal charges against gambling licence-holders who breach the proposed laws would greatly reduce some of the sharp practices currently in evidence.  Also, a Social Fund, into which gambling licence-holders would be compelled to contribute, would greatly increase the provision of dedicated gambling addiction services in the areas of treatment, prevention, education, research and evaluation.  

However, the response from one of Ireland's Gambling Industry heavy-weights, Paddy Power,  may be indicative of the general attitude to the proposed legislation within the industry.  In their submission to government in relation to the Heads of the Bill, they stated "We are concerned however by the proposal to apply the contribution to the Social Fund based on turnover (Head 80) given the intense international competition for online gambling and the narrow margins which generally apply for gambling products. We would encourage the Department to explore models from other jurisdictions that have similar systems in place which are working effectively, for example the UK where operators contribute voluntarily to the Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT) on a flat rate based on scale".  It is worth noting that only 63% of gambling licence-holders in the UK actually contributed to the fund in 2014/2015 and that they raised the paltry sum of £6.5 million from an industry which posted profits of of £1.42 billion in 2013 from Fixed Odds Betting Terminals alone.  Paddy Power's pre-tax profits for 2014 were €166.6 million.

Surprisingly, Paddy Power, who are renowned for pushing the boundaries in their advertising campaigns, also took issue with the Department of Justice's proposals in relation to advertising and sponsorship.  The gambling giant would prefer  Codes of Practice and Codes of Conduct in gambling advertising (which already exist) rather than primary legislation.  Paddy Power give the following example: "a failure to remove online promotional material within 12 hours could trigger a summary prosecution and sponsorship of an adult sports team which has one 17 year old player would infringe Head 74. We would respectfully query if such granular restrictions would be workable in practice.".  I have no doubt that Paddy Power and other gambling industry members would have some difficulty with any restrictions, granular or otherwise, as it limits their ability to actively encourage problem gambling (which  generates up to 75% of gambling industry profits in some jurisdictions) and to (inadvertently) promote gambling to children by advertising before the watershed and through sports sponsorship.

Some facts on gambling in Ireland and globally:  

• Ireland has the second highest gambling spend, per capita, in the world (based on 2010 figures).
• Ireland has an estimated 28,000 - 40,000 problem gamblers (2015 UCD/Dept of Social Protection research).
• Fewer than 1% of people who would benefit from problem gambling treatment receive it. (Gamble Aware, 2011).
• Adolescent gambling in Ireland is 2-3 times greater than that of adults (Irish Institute of Public Health, 2010).
• The health and social costs of problem gambling appear to exceed government revenue gained from gambling taxes and businesses (Irish Institute of Public Health, 2010).
• ​1 in 5 problem gamblers attempt suicide - more than double to figure of other addictions (U.S. figures, National Council for Problem Gambling). 
• The U.S. National Gambling Impact Study Commission found that for every compulsive gambler, five additional people are affected by the addiction (this could mean up to 240,00 people negatively impacted by gambling in Ireland).
• Ireland currently has no dedicated gambling addiction treatment service.

On behalf of the estimated 240,000 people in Ireland, whose lives are negatively impacted by gambling-related harm, all of us at Problem Gambling Ireland ask that the new Government act quickly to enact the Gambling Control Bill.  
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