North Antrim MLA Philip McGuigan has raised concerns about the new gambling regulations proposed by Communities Minister Gordon Lyons, which would increase the maximum stake and prizes limits for licensed operators of gaming machines in Northern Ireland. McGuigan believes these changes are an acknowledgment that bookmakers in the NI Turf Guardian Association are operating outside of gambling laws, as evidenced by a report commissioned by Lewis Silkin that found licensed bookmaker premises in Newry, Ballymena, and Belfast offering illegal stakes and prizes on electronic gaming machines.

McGuigan criticized the new regulations as an attempt to align gaming machine stake and prize limits with those in Britain, stating that bookmakers in Northern Ireland have been operating electronic gaming machines illegally for over two decades. He emphasized the importance of enforcing these regulations to minimize risks and ensure that bookmakers are not continuing to break the law, as they have done in recent years. Research from the University of Glasgow and Bournemouth University commissioned by GambleAware has shown a strong association between gambling consumption and harm, with gaming machines being identified as the most harmful group of products.

Recent studies have found that continuous forms of gambling with high levels of consumption pose the greatest risk of gambling harm, with three-quarters of people who only use gaming machines experiencing problem gambling. Additionally, data from the most recent Gambling Survey for Great Britain revealed that individuals who play casino games on machines or terminals are significantly more likely to experience problem gambling compared to the average gambler. McGuigan’s concerns highlight the need for strict enforcement of gambling regulations to protect individuals from the potential harms associated with gaming machines.