Some recipients of Cyprus’s Minimum Guaranteed Income (EEE) are spending their monthly payment at casinos and betting shops, with consequences for their own quality of life, their families, and society more broadly.
Some recipients wait for the transfer to arrive and, once they see the funds available, turn to gambling within the following two to three days.
The issue was raised before Parliament’s Audit Committee during discussion of the Auditor General’s report on the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare.
An official from the Deputy Ministry said there is an intention and willingness to cooperate with the Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection, in order to receive information on the use of the EEE specifically at casinos or betting shops.
Specifically, the official said the Deputy Ministry intends to work with the Personal Data Protection Commissioner to obtain information on whether EEE recipients visit casinos or gamble at betting shops.
The official said there are already indications of this pattern, explaining that data-matching could allow checks to be carried out, for example noting that when a transfer is made to recipients’ accounts on the 15th of the month, the number of users at casinos and betting shops rises on the 16th, 17th or 18th.
The official said there are ways to trace this, but added that Parliament’s help is needed in order to receive information from the Personal Data Protection Commissioner’s office.
Deputy Minister Klea Papaellina confirmed that such information does exist and said the aim is to introduce measures to help those using the EEE for gambling to break the habit.
She said the goal is for recipients to get up and go to work like everyone else, and to feel useful, rather than turning to gambling. She added that by allowing people to continue this pattern without being able to intervene, out of concern over affecting their personal data, the ministry is helping neither the recipients themselves nor their families.
Audit Committee chair Zacharias Koulias, along with committee members Chr. Savvidis, G. Pamboridis, D. Baros, M. Nicolaou, Od. Michaelidis, N. Kettiros and Chr. Christofides, all stressed the need to find a way to keep the Deputy Ministry informed, both on this issue and others, in order to facilitate its work, provided personal data is not affected beyond what is strictly necessary under the circumstances.