Analysis: Gambling addicts afforded no protection by Irish law

The latest feeble attempt at self-regulation by bookmakers is a stark reminder that, unlike in Britain, there is no robust legal mechanism here to save the vulnerable from dangerous addiction

Expecting bookmakers to self-regulate is a joke. Businesses don’t because you usually have two pressures: from the government and from investors. Picture: iStock

The new code of conduct agreed by most of the Irish betting industry is the latest admission that there is little protection in place for people who fall prey to gambling addiction in this country.

Next month will mark a full decade since Alan Shatter, the then minister of justice, announced a new bill to modernise Ireland’s archaic gambling laws.

“The government agreed with me that it was long past time for a full and ...