Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould said the national lottery has moved to introduce such a ban and some bookmakers are bringing forward optional bans in limited situations.

“The problem with optional bans is that they can be withdrawn as easily as they can be introduced,” he said. “If bookmakers are losing money or customers due to these bans, then where does that leave vulnerable people.”

The Cork North-Central TD was speaking as he introduced his Betting (Prohibition on Use of Credit Cards) Bill, which prohibits the use of credit cards to place bets in any circumstance.

Failure to do so would result in the companies concerned losing their licences. The Bill was introduced in the wake of estimates that 55,000 people are engaged in serious problem gambling while “many more people are at risk and need protection”.

Mr Gould said the Bill aims to provide just one of the protections required for these people since a Gambling Control Bill was first promised in 2013 but has yet to be introduced.

The Government has pledged that a gambling regulator will be appointed by the end of the year.

Mr Gould stressed the need for such a ban “to ensure that those with problem gambling behaviour or those in the throes of addiction are not gambling away money that they do not have and they cannot afford”.

He said the gambling industry itself recognised that it must happen.

‘Gambling mix’
Earlier in the Seanad, Fine Gael Senator Joe O’Reilly who has repeatedly raise the issue of problem gambling, said charities have reported a 46 per cent increase during Covid of people with gambling difficulties, particularly online.

“There is a move towards using smart phones and PCs and very ominously, smart phones are now very much part of the gambling mix,” he said. When sports were off during the pandemic “poker games online became a big issue”.

Last week Fine Gael Senator Barry Ward introduced legislation to prevent betting shops and all commercial or private gambling operations piggybacking on the National Lottery and offering bets on its numbers.

Many bookmakers allow people to bet smaller sums on the outcome of the lotto that the National Lottery offers. The National Lottery (Amendment) Bill aims to prevent

Many bookmakers offering bets on the outcome of the lotto with smaller sums of money than the National Lottery offers.

Mr Ward said when money is spent in a bookies rather than directly on the national lottery, it is diverted away from good causes which account for 28 cent of every euro spent and “put into the hands of private interests in this country”.

The Government has agreed to allow the Bill to proceed to committee stage scrutiny.

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