Gambling on controlling the runaway betting industry
With around 130,000 problem gamblers in the country according to official statistics, a public health emergency has resulted.
It’s something that President Michael D Higgins said had his heart broken during the pandemic.
It was a dangerous thing that was causing so much damage to families, he said.
The President was talking at the Carraig Eden housing centre for men, operated by Tiglin, in Co Wicklow in 2021, one of his first public engagements in some time due to covid-19.
“I am a lifetime supporter of sport," he said.
“During covid, my heart broke at regular times to think that sport was being saturated with gambling advertisements which are so dangerous and have done so much damage to families and so much damage to individuals.
“My hope is that as a society we take responsibility for making the atmosphere in which people live their lives, do their work, enjoy their sport, as free as possible from unnecessary pressure that is capable of causing so much destruction.”
It’s a view shared by Anne Marie Caulfield.
“That’s exactly the rationale behind [what we’re doing],” she told the .
“That we wouldn't have that gamblification of sports, for want of a better way of putting it. That it wouldn’t normalised that gambling and sport go hand in hand.
“Because obviously, sport is such a positive influence for young people in their formative years. It’d be a pity if that was the case, and potentially very damaging for them.”
Ms Caulfield was appointed to the role as the chief executive of the Gambling Regulatory Authority in September 2022.
In the press release announcing her appointment, the Department of Justice said that a pathway mapped out for the legislation needed would make the authority established and operational in 2023. This would mean that 10 years after originally being mooted, Ireland would have brought its gambling laws into the 21st century with a regulator to finally monitor this multi-billion euro industry.
That legislation has yet to pass. This means the regulator still hasn’t yet been given its powers and got formally underway. When it comes to identifying when exactly legislation will pass through the Oireachtas, it’s often the case of identifying how long a piece of string is.
Currently, the Gambling Regulation Bill is at the report stage and must go through the Seanad and be subject to final amendments before being signed by the President into law.
However, perhaps a clue as to when the regulator gets to finally begin its work is in the recruitment efforts underway to fill its 100-strong workforce.
"I think preparation has been going very well,” she said.
“We’ve had a small implementation team at the moment. We’ll be starting a number of people in a number of key positions that we’ll be filling from January.”
As for Ms Caulfield herself, eyebrows were raised in some quarters when she was appointed.
Speaking to the , Paddy Power co-founder and ‘Stop Gambling Harm’ advocate Stewart Kenny said it was essential that the regulator should have knowledge of how the gambling industry works, particularly around how it lures young gamblers into its online casino platforms.
“You need industry expertise on how this works and how the betting companies speed up the process of betting to get gamblers to these platforms,” he said.
At the same time, Extern Problem Gambling’s Barry Grant said that the essential technical expertise should come when they start hiring staff.
“The gambling industry is at the cutting edge of technology and is really good at what they do and you have to have some people who worked at that end of the industry and on that I agree,” he said.
Ms Caulfield may not have prior experience in the gambling industry itself, but she does have extensive regulatory experience within the public and civil service, which includes being the director of the Residential Tenancies Board for eight years and senior roles in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
She said: “So that regulatory piece, that standing up of an organisation and putting in place those structures. That is something that I will bring to the gambling regulatory authority. And we are taking on people with that expertise and experience [needed] in this area.”
The recruitment already undertaken includes a head of ICT and a head of licensing who will bring 20 years experience of the governance sector. This “corporate spine” is important, Ms Caulfield said.
The regulator itself will be independent and have a seven-person board to comprise expertise in a range of areas, including legal affairs, gambling, addiction treatment and ICT.
Its remit will include regulating gambling services and activities online and in person, developing safeguards to protect the public from problem gambling, and licensing gambling services. It is envisaged that the agency will be self-financing, from licence fees and other charges and work is well under way in that regard.
“In terms of licensing, the codes of practice that we’ll expect industry to adhere to... we’ve been working on drafting those,” she said.
“And then the third piece will be communications, education, awareness and that piece so we’re working and planning in those three blocks.”
The problem with gambling in Ireland has not been understood as comprehensively as it could have been, due to a lack of data on the issue. One of the key starting points for the regulator was enlisting the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), to create a robust data source with which to understand the extent of problem gambling in this country.
Ms Caulfield said: "We didn't have the evidence base that I would have wished here in Ireland. I thought it was extremely important that we put that in place.”
The results were, in her words, “quite stark”. These words may even undersell the results.
According to the ESRI, one in 10 adults are now either problem gamblers or report gambling has caused multiple problems in their lives.
Furthermore, there are 10 times the number of problem gamblers in this country than previously thought, which the ESRI said has “serious implications for understanding the role that gambling plays in Irish life”.
Its estimate puts the number of problem gamblers at 3.3% of the population. This is the equivalent of one in 30 adults or 130,000 people.
Professor Colin O’Gara, a consultant psychiatrist and head of addiction services at St John of God Hospital, said the figures confirmed that problem gambling in Ireland is a “public health emergency”.
One of the advocates calling for strong regulation of gambling for years, Professor O’Gara told the at the time that these figures “are really highlighting what we’ve been trying to highlight for years”.
“Hopefully these figures now will make people sit up and listen,” he said, and that large swathes of gambling companies’ profits come from those who have a problem with gambling.
Ms Caulfield certainly welcomed having such data on the extent of the problem in Ireland, and said having that evidence base is essential as it begins to regulate an industry which has a negative affect on so many.
“So I suppose for us, it does quantify the extent of the problem,” she said.
“And that is a real issue and one that deserves attention. From our perspective then, it's about looking at well, what are the measures in the draft legislation in the bill that will help us to tackle that.
“So, it's everything from the gambling exclusion scheme, to the education and awareness to the different provisions in terms of advertising, in terms of restrictions on advertising, in terms of restrictions on the use of credit cards, restrictions on inducements, etc, that'll help us to deal with that.”
To help make this difference, the powers Ms Caulfield and the Gambling Regulatory Authority will have are extensive.
The powers it will have include enforcing the broadcast watershed which prohibits gambling adverts between 5.30am and 9pm on TV, radio and on-demand video services. It will also receive, investigate and address complaints about gambling companies, ensure compliance with money-laundering legislation and establishing a national gambling exclusion register.
Up to now, the industry has not had regulations in the area of how it communicates messages around 'safe gambling', for example. With a regulator in tow, much of that will now change.
The penalties for breaching the rules can be hefty.
"In terms of breaches, there are very substantial fines,” Ms Caulfield said. So there's €20m or 10% of turnover, whichever is the greater, there's also the ability to suspend a license or part of a license or to revoke it entirely.
“So you know, there is a whole swathe of measures there in the Bill, which we will be able to bring to bear in the instance where we see that the companies are not adhering to the legislation.”
The UK Gambling Commission has been in operation for nearly 20 years. It has a wide remit, just like Ireland’s version will have, and routinely finds itself dishing out massive fines to gambling companies for breaches of the legislation.
Earlier this year [in 2023], it fined three gambling firms owned by William Hill Group £19.2m for social and responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. This included William Hill’s online site and Mr Green, both of which Irish users can set accounts up on.
Among the infractions under the term ]social responsibility' was Mr Green failing to identify certain customers at risk of experiencing related harm and failing to carry out checks at an early stage in the customer’s 'journey'. One customer lost over €75,000 in 70 minutes.
Claims have been made that gambling companies incorporate the expectation for such financial penalties into their bottom lines, and these firms will have the strongest of teams on the regulatory side fighting their corners to protect that bottom line. Regulating them will not be an easy task, but the tools will be there to take action, and the examples set by others.
Ms Caulfield praised counterparts abroad for their co-operation and support in setting up Ireland’s own version of the regulator.
Ireland has plenty to catch up on compared to its counterparts in other European countries. However, these examples, and pitfalls, from other jurisdictions will help inform how Ireland does its work according to Ms Caulfield.
“We have met and we're continuing to liaise with our counterparts in the UK, because as you say, there's some similarities in terms of the companies,” she said.
“And also in terms of the types of betting and gambling activities, the types of events like the Premiership or horseracing, and so on.
“It's important that we be familiar with what's going on there. But in terms of that whole area of breaches of obligations, I mentioned that the legislation is quite strong, in that respect.”
She also highlighted the importance for the regulator to be reactive and able to adapt to new developments in the industry. AI, she said, is something that we don’t yet know the impact it could have in this field.
In lieu of proper gambling regulations for so long in Ireland, filling the void in the discourse calling for action have been, along with such as Mr Grant and Professor O’Gara, high-profile figures who themselves have struggled with problem gambling and gambling addiction.
Famously, the story of postmaster-turned-addiction counsellor Tony O’Reilly resonated with many. From a £1 bet in his early 20s, it escalated out of control to the extent that he stole €1.75m from his employer.
Having served a stint in jail, he detailed his story with journalist Declan Lynch in a bestselling book called . Among his activities now are going to schools around the country to give talks to teenagers and tell his story.
GAA player Óisin McConville and Corkman Eoin Coyne are others who have spoken strongly and publicly about their experiences.
“I think their generosity in terms of sharing their stories with us really helps us a lot to understand where they're coming from,” Ms Caulfield said.
“And it will help us in terms of designing programs, education, awareness programmes, into the future. But I think they're speaking to us about experiences that others are also going through, maybe in a very silent way, and maybe trying and hide it from family and friends, where it's spiraling out of control.
“It's very courageous of them. But they are the voice for the people that we spoke about, you know, the 3.1%, the 130,000, that are experiencing problem gambling in quite a significant way."
Protecting young people is a key element in the legislation. Young people watching a sports event on television now are likely to be peppered with gambling advertising throughout.
From the adverts at halftime to the shirt sponsors of some teams to the advertising hoardings, gambling is everywhere.
“And I suppose it's about as well, the normalisation of gambling, placing it alongside sporting events, sports are so important for young people," Ms Caulfield said.
“Sport is such a positive influence that they can bring right through their lives. And, you know, the two are not inextricably linked. And if you have ads playing constantly throughout matches, it may form that view.”
The remit is wide, and the powers granted are significant but the industry it is regulating is a multi-billion euro one. One that is continuously innovating to find different ways to make consumers part ways with their money.
Ms Caulfield knows she has a job on her hands, but believes she and her nascent organisation will be up to the challenge. The importance of the task is not lost on her.
“I wouldn't underestimate the amount of work that's ahead, in terms of the levers that are there, and that are available to us," she said.
“I think it's incumbent upon us to make sure that we do make a difference.
“We have a benchmark now, and one of the measures we'll be setting ourselves as a key performance indicator is what impact we have in terms of our education and awareness, in terms of the different measures in the Bill, ensuring that they're implemented effectively, and that we're monitoring compliance, and to make a difference.
“I mean, it's a great privilege to make a difference too isn't it? It's a great privilege to be entrusted with that.”
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