CASINO GAMBLING corrupts governments as politicians become dependent on taxes and campaign contributions from gaming firms, the Government has been warned.
A report drawn up by senior officials in the Department of Justice has also warned of the “extreme negative impact” on society of casino gambling such as increased criminality, family strife and debt.
Casinos (resort and general) – Merits and Demeritswas drawn up by officials in October 2010 following a public consultation on the review of Irish gambling laws.
The report set out 12 points in favour of legislating to allow resort casinos and lists nine points against allowing them to set up.
In support of resort casinos, the report said regulating casinos meant that social responsibility measures, such as addressing problem gambling, could be hard-wired into licensing conditions.
The State could also ensure the resort was not just a place of “casual gambling”, but part of a wider leisure entertainment package, added the report, which was released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Resort casinos should be capable of generating large-scale employment, should provide a high return to the State in licensing fees and gambling tax revenue and contribute to the social and economic regeneration of the three regions in the State in which it was proposed that they be located.
The report analysed the positive experience of resort casinos in Australia, which pay community levies that help to fund community groups, cultural events and charities. It quoted an Australian government report, which said casinos “provide a range of indirect or intangible benefits to local communities, including improved quality of life for the elderly”.
In contrast, the section on the “demerits” of casinos warned that one in three gamblers would be compulsive – a condition affecting 40,000-120,000 Irish people.
The report quoted a US study on compulsive gamblers showing: 22 per cent were divorced; 40 per cent lost or quit a job; 49 per cent stole from their work; and 63 per cent contemplated suicide because of their gambling addiction. It also quoted a British Medical Journal report from 2007, which concluded “gambling affects physical, social and mental wellbeing as well as creating debt” and “poor communities are hardest hit”.
The report highlighted a link between organised crime and gambling casinos, which it warned could be used to launder money.
“Casino gambling corrupts governments, as politicians become dependent on the taxes and campaign contributions that come their way from the gaming industry. Owners of casino-type gambling establishments attempt to corrupt police, judges and legislators.”
The civil servant who wrote the report for the Minister for Justice, who is not named, said by way of contradiction to the alleged links with organised crime that the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 had come into operation.
The report said some of the negative points about casinos were included in a submission to the public consultation by a group called “Ireland against Casinos”.
The Options for Regulating Gamblingreport was published by the government in December 2010. Minister for Justice Alan Shatter is considering whether its proposals should be implemented.