The Irish Amusement Trades Association has expressed frustration at the government’s efforts to push through a bill that would change 44 aspects of an antiquated law, ignoring its more obstructive elements.
The Miscellaneous Provisions Bill would change 44 sections of the Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1956, a piece of legislation that means Ireland’s industry is governed on a local level rather than a national one, similar to Italy’s legislative landscape, making it difficult for any industry decisions to be made on a national level. As well as this, manufacturers need to rely heavily on distributors to know where a machine will be legal to operate.
While the bill makes many changes it glosses over the regional governance aspect.
A piece of legislation called the Gambling Control Bill was passed in 2013 which fixes many of these issues but has yet to be enacted due to a bottleneck in the Dail – the Irish parliament.
The group is at a loss as to why efforts are being made to change to the original bill rather than pass the one that would resolve a greater number of issues.
David Stanton, minister of state for equality, immigration and integration is responsible for pushing through the new bill. “We asked Stanton why this had been done and he told us that if he had added section 13 it would make it a gambling bill and more difficult to get through the Dail,” said John Roche, general secretary for the Irish Amusement Trades Association at the Irish Gaming Show in Dublin last week. “I personally don’t see how you can make 44 changes to a gambling bill and not have it be a gambling bill. It is definitely a gambling bill.”
He said the group would like to see a regulatory group similar to the UK’s Gambling Commission set up to oversee the industry, but at the moment if the 1956 legislation was enforced to the letter of the law the Irish industry “would be decimated overnight,” unless the 2013 bill is implemented, which Roche doesn’t expect to see happen “for at least another 24 months.”
Pictured: John Roche, general secretary for the Irish Amusement Trades Association at the Irish Gaming Show in Dublin
