GAA star urges Government to curb gambling advertising
A GAA star recovering from gambling addiction has today urged authorities to clamp down on advertising in the sector.
Offaly footballer Niall McNamee has been responding to calls for the betting tax of 1% to increase by a percentage point.
Bookmakers say they cannot afford a rise in the betting tax, as it is levelled on their turnover, not profit.
Mr McNamee said that advertising is the real issue that should be tackled,.
"It's everywhere," he said.
"And as I often said to someone - If I was in a bookie's today, and I lost all my money, and I said: 'Right, that's it, I'm never going to gamble again', and I'm at home this evening and I see an ad for a betting company that says, look, 'if I set an account today I get whatever amount of euros [in a] free bet' - that's my ticket."
