The Irish Times reported last week that the chairman of the Fine Gael parliamentary party, Martin Heydon, has called for regulations to ban politicians from being photographed betting on themselves during the General Election.
This will require an amendment to the Gaming and Lotteries Act. The amendment will introduce the office of a betting regulator, who will oversee licensing, regulating, monitoring, inspection and enforcement.
Heydon declared, “On the first day of an election campaign, politicians have a photo taken of them putting a bet on themselves to win. This needs to be stopped, just like where we stopped taking visiting dignitaries straight to the pub for a pint. That kind of culture change is important and an independent office will bring that about.”
Heydon also wants to restrict gambling advertisements and to regulate online games that are played by children, and which he called very addictive.
He said he owns of apprentices earning €200 or €250 a week who run up debts of €20,000. They don’t make the bets at a bookie, but using their phones, he said.
