The communities minister of Northern Ireland – Caral Ni Chuilin – has made a promise to make a legislative effort and bring a piece of legislation to the Assembly in order to ensure better regulation of the online gambling sector in the country.
According to Minister Ni Chuilin, the measures aimed at regulating online gambling in Northern Ireland must be taken to another level and become more effective. The communities minister explained that she intends to bring new legislation drafts before the Assembly before the end of her current mandate in 2022.
Philip McGuigan, a colleague of Ms Chuilin’s from the Sinn Fein party and a former gambling addict himself, approached her to discuss the issue, which has been among the hottest topics in Northern Ireland recently. He specifically asked the communities minister whether she had intended to suspend so-called withdrawal reversals, in which a gambler withdrawing their winnings changes their intentions and spends the money to place more bets.
Minister Ni Chuilin shared that she was considering to unveil new legislation that would make sure the gambling sector better protects local gamblers’ health. The communities minister explained that the rapid increase in problem gambling rates in the last 10-15 years have made the Government to put more efforts into taking the gambling legislation of Northern Ireland to another level.
Problem Gambling Addressed as Public Health Issue in Northern Ireland
As Ms Ni Chuilin further explained the competent authorities were aimed at tackling gambling addiction, as well as online gambling participation rates, as unveiling qualitative protections for local people was highly necessary. She also noted that the country’s lawmakers were looking at different suggestions for gambling legislation changes, with them focused on starting in their current mandate as soon as possible.
Apart from that, Mr McGuigan described gambling as a public health issue and asked the communities minister whether she had already started discussions and collaboration with the health minister on that measures that could be taken to tackle the issue.
As explained by Ms Ni Chuilin, she had held a meeting with Robin Swann, the health minister of Northern Ireland, to discuss a number of issues associated with gambling and problem gambling. She said that every executive minister should be engaged with the mental health of the country’s residents, so she has taken the necessary steps to work together with the health minister in order to support people dealing with problem gambling issues. She further said that families of gambling addicts, who are going through difficult times, would also be subject to help from the measures that are being considered to make things work and tackle spreading problem gambling issues.
The Government of Northern Ireland has been called for stricter measures to be unveiled in terms of the gambling sector because the number of people affected by problem gambling issues has been rising over the last few years. A change in the country’s gambling laws is necessary in order for the lawmakers to guarantee better regulation of the industry, especially when it comes to online gambling.
- Author
Daniel Williams
