692. Deputy Paul Donnelly asked the Minister for Justice if she will report on any legislation in relation to the gaming industry's use of so-called loot boxes; and if not, if there are any plans to deal with this practice that is entrapping young people and luring them into the gambling world. [32355/22] 

Minister of State at the Department of Justice and Equality James Browne: The Programme for Government gives a clear commitment to establish a gambling regulator focused on public safety and well-being, covering gambling online and in person, and the powers to regulate advertising, gambling websites and apps. Additionally, Justice Plan 2022 commits to continuing the work already commenced by my Department to establish a Gambling Regulatory Authority.

To give effect to this commitment, work is underway on the Gambling Regulation Bill, which was approved by Government for priority drafting and publication.

The Bill is based on the recommendations of both the Inter-Departmental Working Group on Future Licensing and Regulation of Gambling and the Final Report on the establishment of a modern regulatory environment and authority for all gambling activities licensed in Ireland. Copies of both reports can be found on my Department's website.

In respect of loot boxes and similar e-Commerce activities, the Report of the Inter-Departmental Working Group noted that the video gaming industry should play a greater role in ensuring that their intellectual property was not used outside the games for “gambling purposes” facilitated by third party websites and that the video gaming industry should treat this issue similarly to how they combatted counterfeiting previously.

In addition, Ireland supported the 2018 Declaration by the Gaming Regulators European Forum that video gaming products should be licensed and regulated appropriately, if they can be shown to fall into the category of gambling. In preparing the Declaration, member states were aware of reports that third party actors, not authorised by the video game developer or under their control, may seek to commercialise certain elements of video gaming in a manner akin to gambling. The issue is whether such micro-transactions constitute gambling or are a form of e-commerce.

With regard to protection of children and young people, the Pan-European Game Information (PEGI) age rating system was established in 2003 to help European parents make informed decisions on buying computer games. I encourage parents to ensure that their children only engage in appropriate gaming and are not making purchases unknown to them.

Different approaches have been adopted to the issue of whether and how "loot boxes" might be defined and regulated in the context of gambling activities in Europe, with no definitive outcomes or consensus as to how to address them.

The Gambling Regulatory Authority, when established, will have responsibility to keep this issue and other trends related to gambling under review