Getting down to business
Ireland’s new gambling regulator was officially formed at the start of March, and it’s now starting its journey to oversee the country’s sector. The body came off the back of legislation that overhauled the country’s outdated gambling legislation.
addiction nationwide is about ten times greater than the GRAI initially believed
Speaking to the Irish Examiner, Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) Chief Executive Anne Marie Caulfield remarked that the extent of addiction nationwide is about ten times greater than the GRAI initially believed.
Stark figures
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) looked into the matter and found that 3.1% of adults in the country suffer from gambling-related harm, with another 7% exhibiting a moderate level of harm.
nearly half of the revenue for gaming operators in the country comes from these two groups
The research found that nearly half of the revenue for gaming operators in the country comes from these two groups. Another stark statistic was that people who placed a bet before their 18th birthday were twice as likely to become addicted later in life.
Caulfield mentioned a debate on Irish radio the previous night about the growing issue of gambling addiction among females, emphasizing that gambling addiction doesn’t just fall into a particular gender, socioeconomic, or education bracket—it can impact anyone.
Plenty of work to do
The GRAI certainly has a lot on its plate as it is in charge of issuing licenses to operators, supervising them, and controlling all forms of gambling activity nationwide.
Some of the other tasks on the agenda include creating a national gambling exclusion register, looking after a social impact fund to direct money toward treatment and awareness programs, and enforcing strict new advertising rules.
Chief Executive Caulfield is ready to dive into the job at hand, stating that everyone who is part of the regulatory body owes it to people suffering from gambling harm “to do our job properly.”