asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware of the obsolete state of the law in connection with gaming, resulting in the prosecution of amusement caterers and carnival committees for allowing simple games such as roulette and pongo to be played for nominal stakes; that all these carnivals and fairs are organised for charitable purposes and that much confusion is caused by the fact that some district justices reluctantly impose nominal penalties in prosecutions for playing these games, whereas other justices impose heavy penalties and forbid carnival committees continuing with their carnivals; further, if he will state the number of cases in which fines under these Acts have been brought to his notice and the number of instances in which he has exercised his discretion and remitted the fines; and if he will forthwith introduce proposals for amending legislation to bring the gaming laws into line with present-day conditions.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Games of Chance.
This problem is not so easy as the Deputy appears to think. It is true that the statutes governing gaming are not modern, but even the most up-to-date statute would not remove all our difficulties, and certainly would not satisfy everybody. The main trouble is that if games such as roulette are tolerated scandals are bound to arise. They did so in the past, and I have no doubt that if the Garda Síochána relaxed their vigilance they would occur again. In this as in all other matters different justices take different views as to the seriousness of offences, but that is something outside my control. Since I became Minister for Justice I have received two petitions for remission of fines imposed in respect of gaming offences. I rejected one petition and the other case is still under consideration. I will consider the question of legislation, but I am afraid that I cannot guarantee that any Bill on the subject will be introduced in the near future.