Carlton Entertainment Group’s CEO, Debbie Quirke, has spoken out about the impact the Irish Government’s proposed €10 stake limit on land-based casino games will have on her Dublin-based Carlton Casino and other small businesses. The Gambling Regulation Bill is also set to cap winnings at €3,000, and as reported by the Irish Times, Ms Quirke considers the restrictions to be discriminatory since they only target businesses centred around games of chance, while no such stake limits will be imposed on sports betting. The National Lottery will also be exempt from the limits.
She further stressed that in-person betting does not pose the greatest danger to at-risk individuals, as data from a study by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) identified online slots and remote games in general as the gambling products of choice for around 22% of problem gamblers, while for in-person gaming, the percentage dropped to 0%.
As opposed to helping curb problem gambling, the bill stands to “push more people into the online sphere and to unlicensed operators,” argued Ms Quirke after explaining how her establishment tackles the issue. According to Ms Quirke, trained professionals are tasked with monitoring Carlton Casino’s venue, and when they identify a patron who is exhibiting signs of problem gambling, they must reach out and assist the client in getting treatment. Carlton Casino also offers self-exclusion, and all of these aspects of her business contrast the unregulated casinos the bill’s proposed betting caps might push players toward.
Lack of Communication Between Small Gambling Businesses and the Government
While Ms Quirke has said that she does not oppose the overall goals of the Gambling Regulation Bill, she has stressed that the aspects she deems problematic can be harmful to businesses and players alike. Yet, her experience in trying to reach out to James Browne and Helen McEntee, the Minister of Justice, suggests that officials have been unwilling to enter in-depth discussions with representatives of the industry that run small businesses like Carlton Casino. Instead, Ms Quirke is of the opinion that most of the focus has been on industry giants like Flutter Entertainment and Entain, the parent companies of Paddy Power and Ladbrokes, respectively.
Indeed, big players have had an influence on the regulations outlined in the Gambling Bill, and the proposed betting and winning caps are not the only proposed pieces of legislation that have been criticised by members of the industry. This spring, a potential ban on gambling inducements was criticised by Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson, the CFO of Flutter Entertainment. As described by legal services firm Hayes Solicitors, this piece of legislation was recently amended. In contrast to the previously proposed blanket prohibition, inducements will be permitted so long as they do not target specific individuals or groups of people.
Another amendment had to do with how gambling can be advertised. Namely, it has been decided that charitable organisations will not be prohibited from promoting initiatives involving gambling on social media, and they will not need to adhere to the pre-watershed ban on gambling advertising on television and other on-demand media services. This does come with the condition that the gambling-related winnings from a given charity’s campaign are valued at €10,000 or below. This change, along with the amendment described above, served as clear showcases of how the Gambling Bill remains a work of progress.
- Author
Daniel Williams
