Extent of gambling problem 'too big for policymakers to ignore'

The ESRI said over 10% of Irish adults are either problem gamblers or have faced difficulties due to gambling.

A recovering problem gambler has said landmark research on the extent of gambling in society shows the issue is “far too big for policymakers to ignore”.

Corkman Eoin Coyne, who now advocates for harm prevention, said problem gambling is “embedded in Irish society” and strong action must be taken to protect people and support those in difficulty.

In a paper published on Thursday, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said over 10% of the adult population in Ireland are either problem gamblers or have faced multiple difficulties due to gambling.

Its estimate of 130,000 problem gamblers is 10 times what had been previously estimated, and the data was described by consultant psychiatrist Professor Colin O’Gara as indicative of a “public health emergency”.

New Government legislation will grant sweeping powers to the country’s first-ever gambling regulator, with those laws expected to be passed by the end of this year. 

The minister of state spearheading the legislation, James Browne, said the Government is treating the issue with the urgency it deserves.

Corkman Eoin Coyne said problem gambling is 'embedded in Irish society'.

“Take a school class of 30 people,” Mr Coyne said. “This data means that everybody who went to school in Ireland had someone in their class with a gambling problem. To highlight it to this degree shows something has to be done now.” 

Advocates had warned that previous estimates of gambling harm did not capture the scale of the problem, and Mr Coyne described the ESRI publication as a “red letter day”.

“Here’s the data to back up what we’ve been saying for years. And it’s that impetus to say, let’s put in place protections for people and supports for people affected by problem gambling," he said.

“This is a great kickstart now for the gambling regulator to come in and say we have a serious problem. It’s not hearsay anymore. 

The figures speak for themselves. People like me were screaming out, telling people there was an emergency.

Mr Coyne added that gambling advertising in particular has “seeped into every part of our life” and that children who are interested in sport are constantly bombarded by gambling ads.

Support service Extern Problem Gambling said the ESRI data suggests that as many as 1.4m people in Ireland could be impacted by problem gambling, pointing to research that highlights the ripple effects caused by an adult having an issue with gambling.

“This is not an issue at the fringes of society,” said counsellor and project manager Barry Grant. 

“For every person with a gambling problem, an additional six-10 people are impacted. We encourage anyone who is impacted by gambling harms to seek help.”