Government accused of ‘ostrich approach’ to gambling regulation

IRELAND is the only EU country with no law specifically governing casinos, a conference heard yesterday.

The number of casinos has almost doubled here in the past three years, but the Government is adopting an “ostrich approach’’ to regulating gaming and gambling activity, said Waterford Institute of Technology lecturer Ivor O’Donovan.

There was a need for laws to deal with loopholes that allowed casinos to window-dress themselves as private members’ clubs in order to sidestep the law, he added.