A Belfast Councillor has called for stricter action regarding Northern Ireland’s gambling legislation explaining they are not good enough to serve their purpose. According to John Kyle, the authorities need to do more in order to protect vulnerable members of society such as people who find it hard to control their gambling habits.
At the time when Belfast City Council took into consideration the issue at the beginning of the week, Mr Kyle once again directed the spotlight towards the fact how challenging problem gambling is for Northern Ireland and its residents.
According to research that dates back to 2017, there are more problem gamblers in Northern Ireland than in any other part of the UK. What is worse, there currently is no specialist support for people who suffer from gambling addiction in the region. And, on top of that, Northern Ireland has little effective regulation to deal with problem gambling.
The thing is that current gambling legislation of Northern Ireland dates back to 1985, which pretty much explains the lack of regulation of online gambling. Currently, the Department for Communities is having a public consultation on Northern Ireland’s gambling issues, with the process being possible to lead to certain law changes. For some years now, there have been various campaigns calling for new laws to regulate the local gambling industry and provide qualitative support for problem gamblers.
Councillor John Kyle has insisted that the challenge of problem gambling is among the most serious ones faced by the contemporary society, and must not be ignored, so the competent authorities need to come up with ways to better protect vulnerable people from any harm related to compulsive gambling and possible exploitation of gambling operators.
No Adequate Record of Actual Number of Problem Gamblers Looking for Help Is Kept
Belfast Councillor shared that, in his opinion, it was high time for gambling companies that generate profits amounting to millions of pounds on an annual basis to put the prevention and treatment of gambling addiction as a top priority.
Mr Kyle finds the current contributions made by gambling operators for prevention and treatment of problem gambling insufficient, so he says a mandatory levy needs to be introduced. He remained hopeful that the ongoing debate would also put pressure on the Assembly to make sure the outdated gambling legislation of the region is updated as soon as possible.
A recent report of the Northern Ireland Office has also revealed that the current level of support provided to problem gamblers is insufficient. According to the information revealed in the report, Northern Ireland lacks gambling specific services commissioned by the local health and Social Care Board, which, on the other hand, is the reason why no data regarding the number of people who seek professional help for their problem gambling is kept.
- Author
Daniel Williams
