Irish people who "crave" casino gambling "can go abroad and find one if they want to", Minister for Justice Michael McDowell told the Dáil.
The Minister insisted that "it is a matter for the Oireachtas and not for me to decide whether it wants to regulate or prohibit casino gambling in Ireland".
However, "the Oireachtas has already made its decision on the question in the shape of the Gaming and Lotteries Act. Oireachtas policy as clearly expressed in those Acts, goes for the prohibition of casino-type operations in this State.
"I am not a puritan or a killjoy. I do not mind people playing poker if they want to, but if people are engaging in unlawful gaming, they should not be allowed to operate a business" under the terms of the Act.
He was responding to Joe Costello (Lab, Dublin Central) who asked about the issue following representations from the Gaming and Leisure Association of Ireland. The Labour TD said he understood Ireland was one of only two EU states that did not have casino-type gambling and that a number of countries had casinos run by the State.
Deputy Costello asked the Minister "whether there is a principle involved, whether some gambling is different from other gambling". If casinos were banned they "may be forced underground to a degree", he said. "Gambling can be carried out online where the server is located outside the country."
Legislation defines unlawful gaming as "gaming where the chances of the players are not equal", said the Minister. "The running of a business enterprise offering games of chance where the promoter has an edge over the participants in the game, as is the case with roulette, is defined by the Act as unlawful gaming.
"That applies to taking a share of the pot simply for running the game without putting any stake at hazard, which is how casinos operate poker tables, and it is against the policy and terms of the Act for that to be permitted."
The question was "do we want private enterprise casinos in Ireland, a State-run casino or to leave matters roughly as they are". He was for the latter. That meant that "we should ensure bogus clubs, which pretend to be clubs but clearly are not, do not become a loophole in the law and effectively allow for casinos to be established across this country posing as something else".
