The State would seize the electronic gaming machines that some bookmakers are planning to introduce to their shops, Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said.
A group of bookmakers are planning to introduce the roulette-style machines, known as fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) to their shops next month.
Responding to a question from Labour leader Pat Rabbitte in the Dáil yesterday, Mr McDowell said the machines were illegal.
"They will be liable to be seized from anyone who installs them," he warned.
A number of weeks ago Mr McDowell said he opposed the plan, but refused to comment any further pending a report from a working group on the regulation of casinos and gambling. He is due to receive that next month.
Fixed-odds betting terminals are slot-machine-style devices that allow punters to bet on roulette and other numbers-based games for small stakes. They pay out at predetermined or "fixed" odds.
They are common in British bookmakers. Ladbrokes' annual report estimates that, in 2005, each of the company's fixed-odds terminals won an average of £545 (€813) a week.
Ladbrokes is one of the companies hoping to introduce the machines to the Republic on a trial basis early in the new year.
The plan is backed by most members of the Irish Bookmakers' Association (IBA), except the country's biggest operator, Paddy Power.
Celtic Bookmakers owner and former Fine Gael minister Ivan Yates told The Irish Times recently that the IBA's legal advice was that they were legal, as they do not qualify as slot machines. Bookies are not allowed to operate slot machines. He was not available to comment yesterday.
