GOVERNMENT WILL NOT provide an exemption to horse-racing TV channels when a ban on daytime gambling ads on television is introduced. 

The Gambling Regulation Bill, which was approved by Cabinet last year, will see stricter regulation of gambling advertising, with a watershed prohibiting gambling advertising – including online ads – between 5:30am and 9:00pm.

As first reported by the Sunday Independent today, in a letter to the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party, Minister of State for the Department of Justice James Browne sets out how he met with representatives of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and the Association of Irish Racecourses (AIR) this week.

The representatives raised concerns with the minister about the proposed legislation, he said. 

“HRI advised me and my officials this week that it had entered into a commercial agreement in May 2023 regarding the sale of exclusive TV rights to Irish Racing between 2024 and 2028 inclusive.

“This was after the adoption by the Government of the cross-party Justice Committee recommendation of a watershed advertising ban and after the Dáil had unanimously approved the Bill at Second Stage,” he states in the letter. 

Browne sets out that HRI representatives sought to understand at the meeting this week if an exemption from the gambling advertising ban could be advanced for two dedicated racing channels, “as this would be more commercially advantageous to HRI”, said the minister.

“This proposal would in effect give a monopoly on gambling advertising in the State to these two channels.

“This proposal clearly gives rise to a number of issues. Firstly, it breaches the principle of the gambling advertising ban. It is completely at odds with the stated will of the cross-party Oireachtas Committee on Justice, and the Government.

“Secondly, such an exemption for the horse racing industry would also be anti-competitive under current legislation covering broadcasting companies and also discriminate against other sports. This would not be legally sustainable,” Browne said.

‘Extremely dangerous’

The minister states that gambling “is not a harmless activity”, adding that problem gambling “is extremely dangerous”.

He said he has been urged from many to go further in terms of tough regulations on the industry, however Brown said he believes the watershed advertising ban “is the most appropriate position at present”.

The technical amendments for the legislation will be brought forward by the minister at Report State soon, said the minister. 

He noted in the correspondence that the presence of trackside betting, the use of trackside gambling advertising, the sponsorship of jockey’s colours and races will all still be permissible after this Bill is enacted.

“In short, there is no legal impediment arising from the gambling legislation that in any way inhibits the showing of horse racing as is currently broadcast,” he added. 

Browne concluded by saying that he is very concerned about intense gambling advertising, stating that he doesn’t believe the increased association of gambling and sport is healthy for our society.

He said the regulation of the gambling industry has been talked about for years, with little action. He said it is imperative that Fianna Fáil delivers on this promise, stating that progressing this legislation is at its core a “public health measure”.

The minister’s comments come in the same week that a report about children gambling in Ireland, which was published by the Institute of Public Health, showed that one-in- four and one-in-five (22.9%) 16-year-olds in Ireland reported gambling for money in the last 12 months.

Betting on sports or animals was the most common form of gambling among 16 year olds and this with a significant proportion doing so online.