Threat to racing on TV in Ireland looms large after minister says he hopes Gambling Bill will be enacted ‘in the coming weeks’

The threat of racing being removed from television screens in Ireland continues to loom large after the minister of state at the department of justice, James Browne, said he is hopeful the legislation will be enacted “in the coming weeks”.

The Gambling Regulation Bill legislates for a ban on gambling advertising between 5.30am and 9pm, which Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing have warned would make it unviable for them to continue broadcasting in Ireland.

The bill completed the legislative process in Dail Eireann (lower house) earlier this year and has been at committee stage in the Seanad (upper house) since May 14. It has three more stages to negotiate in the Seanad before being signed into law by the president.

The Seanad is set to return from summer recess on Tuesday, with the bill scheduled to undergo the committee stage the following day, when it will be examined and amendments may be submitted.

There have been suggestions the bill may be delayed due to an impending general election in Ireland, which Taoiseach Simon Harris has refused to rule out happening before the end of the year,  but Browne is anxious to move it forward.

A spokesperson for Browne said: “Reform of gambling legislation, licensing and regulation is a priority for the government and the department of justice. The programme for government includes a clear commitment to reform gambling legislation, with a focus on public safety and wellbeing from both an online and in-person perspective.

“The bill completed second stage in Seanad Eireann on May 15 and is currently undergoing preparation for committee stage. While the scheduling of Oireachtas business is a matter for the houses of the Oireachtas, minister Browne is hopeful that the Bill will be enacted in the coming weeks.”

Several senators called on Browne to consider an exemption for subscription-based racing channels when the bill passed second stage in the Seanad in May and they will have a final opportunity to push forward amendments on Wednesday.

When the bill was passing through the Dail, few TDs reflected racing’s concerns, with only independent TD Mattie McGrath speaking in support of the industry during the report stage.

However, senators such as Fianna Fail’s Timmy Dooley, independent TD Sharon Keogan and Fine Gael’s Garret Ahearn implored the minister to introduce amendments to safeguard the broadcasting of racing in Ireland.

But Browne remained steadfast in his intention to finalise the bill with no exemption for racing channels, arguing: “If we were to give two TV stations a monopoly on gambling advertising into the country, it would not survive under competition law. This would give them an extraordinary monopoly providing enormous financial worth to those companies.

“It is completely untrue that there is any kind of technical impediment from them showing different advertisements in two different states. It does not stand up to any kind of scrutiny. In fact, TV stations now have the software to show two people in two houses beside each other different ads at the same time. Therefore, there is no technical difficulty there.”

Read these next:

‘The solution will be found and we have time to put one in place’ – Suzanne Eade insists racing will remain on Irish TV screens 

No change to controversial betting blackout expected as Gambling Regulation Bill comes before government 

Racing TV owners reaffirm that potential gambling bill would make Irish market ‘unviable’ following minister’s accusations 

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