Ireland’s gambling regulator is working with the country’s main banks to introduce a voluntary block feature on using credit and debit cards to gamble.
In an update on her work, Gambling Regulatory Authority chief executive designate Anne-Marie Caulfield said this would be a “valuable consumer protection measure”.
“ESRI research shows that the average spend by a person experiencing gambling harm is €1,000 per month,” she said.
“We welcome the introduction by AIB and EBS of a voluntary block feature on debit and credit card transactions which are classified as linked to gambling. Revolut also gives customers the ability to implement a gambling block on their account.”
Ms Caulfield added she was engaging with the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland to roll out this feature across the main pillar banks.
It comes as Ireland’s nascent regulator of the gambling sector has been recruiting for senior roles in recent weeks after the legislation underpinning its operation passed through the Oireachtas before the Dáil was dissolved for November’s general election.
Junior Justice Minister James Browne spearheaded the legislation’s passage through the Oireachtas, which will see advertising restrictions, a national exclusion register and a social fund created to fund problem gambling initiatives.
The regulator itself will have powers of oversight and enforcement within the sector. Gambling companies that breach the law could face substantial fines of up to €20m, or 10% of their turnover.
“I have been leading a programme team working on establishing the structures that will enable us to be an effective fit-for-purpose, independent statutory regulator on our establishment,” Ms Caulfield said in the recent update. “We have made considerable progress in a number of important areas.”
One of those areas is in education, where gambling has recently been added to the SPHE curriculum at both junior and senior cycles.
The regulator is also working with HSE Addiction Services to develop a joint campaign educating parents on the danger of gambling harms for children, while work is also ongoing with the HSE on a pilot for gambling specific treatments.
The regulator said it had engaged with over 200 stakeholders in the sector already and its current plans are to hear from those with lived experience of harm from gambling.
“This engagement is helping us to understand the mindset of the person gambling, the wider familial and societal impacts and will be invaluable as we undertake our statutory education and awareness remit,” it said.
It also pointed to recent ESRI research on exposure to gambling in childhood.
This found gambling before the age of 18 almost doubles the probability of problem gambling in later life, while having one parent who gambled increases the probability the child will be a problem gambler.
“This highlights the importance of regulatory measures to minimise the risk of childhood gambling, which may include both direct measures, such as those that minimise the exposure of children to gambling, and indirect measures that protect adults from experiencing gambling harms,” it said.
“Several countries have introduced such regulatory measures in the last few years.”
Work is also ongoing on the creation of a national gambling exclusion register. A holder of a gambling licence that allows a person on this register to gamble could face a hefty fine and up to five years imprisonment.
The regulator added it was currently procuring ICT support services to establish this register.