Archive for the ‘Gambling Laws’ Category
The European Commission has suggested a handful of rule changes for online gambling service providers that are aimed at encouraging countries in the European Union (EU) to employ stricter consumer protection measures. According to the recommendations made, it is deeply concerned that the dangers of excessive gambling and the participation of under-age children in the activity are not curbed. Let us look at some of the concerns that the recommendations are meant to address.
Participation by under-age children
States in the European Union are asked to put security measures in place that will make sure that under-age children do not participate in gambling activities. It is also proposed that legislation is put in place to ensure that there is minimized contact with any gambling activity online among minors and that there is a registration process that requires age verification by site managers.
Have you wondered why no casino has been built on Irish soil so far? It is because the government of Ireland strongly opposes any form of gambling under the severe penalty of law. While various projects have been submitted so far, none of them has been approved yet. This is also the case with Richard Quirk’s vision of a large scale casino-hotel complex. If this project had been approved by the government, the massive location would provide over five hundred guest rooms, several golf courses, indoor and outdoor racing tracks for enthusiasts, helipads and even a scaled replica of the White House. This ambitious project promises to be the largest complex of this nature in the entire Europe.
There has been a lot of hype regarding the intention of the Irish government to increase the one percent tax on all gambling. This tax proposition was intended to help the under-funded horse and hound racing industries of the country, which seem to be on their last legs, so to speak. Government officials and legal specialists have proposed that the gambling tax be upgraded to two percent, as opposed to the old one percent tax. However, while animal rights groups are applauding this project, the betting associations have protested vehemently against it. If you take a closer look to this tax increase, you will notice that the truth is somewhere in the middle, as both parties have a pretty strong case.
In a submission by the local authority for a review of gambling law reform, Dublin City Council has told the Irish government it is opposed to the opening of casinos anywhere in the capital.
The council stated that it was ‘opposed to any review of gambling laws that extends gambling beyond what is available at present’.
It did not want to see any new gaming arcades or casinos within its jurisdiction, and said it believed that gambling was dangerously addictive.
Ireland’s Department of Justice is in the process of examining what effects the widespread legislative reform of its gambling sector could have.
Casinos are illegal under the country’s current gaming legislation, but the operation of private members’ card clubs and other casino-style venues is not prohibited.
Dublin City Council was established a special cross-party subgroup to consider the terms of the review, which was established under the auspices of Ireland’s previous government.
(Press Release from GIN – Gaming Industry News)
Gambling has always been favored in Ireland and as a result reason one can find several clubs, bingo halls, sports betting halls offering lotteries and other forms of gambling. Governed by the Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1956, the gambling industry of Ireland is a bit different from those in other countries of the world. The Act considers casino gambling as illegal but allows private clubs to provide gambling opportunities. For this reason, the private casinos pose as private clubs and offer unlimited gambling opportunities to their patrons.