Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris has instructed his officials to do a “deep dive” into the placing of bets on the Dublin Central byelection by accounts engaged in highly suspicious betting behaviour on the gambling platform Polymarket.An Irish Times investigation published on Monday found that over the course of a week in April, accounts engaged in suspicious betting behaviour made a series of bets on Gerry Hutch, the gangland figure known as ‘The Monk’, to lose in the byelection, which takes place on Friday.Experts say these betting patterns can indicate illicit behaviour, such as money laundering, market manipulation, or attempts to make a betting market appear more active than it is. There is no suggestion that Hutch or any other candidate is involved in the betting.On Tuesday, Harris told reporters at the Mansion House in Dublin that he has now instructed his officials to do a “deep dive” into the issue and liaise with other State bodies, including the Department of Justice, the Gambling Regulator and the Central Bank of Ireland. “This is a relatively new and emerging issue,” the Fine Gael leader said. “I think there’s two elements, from my perspective, to this. There’s the element of gambling and, therefore, the potential role for the Gambling regulator [ ...] and then secondly, the potential concern that this is a vehicle that could be used in terms of money-laundering as well.”Harris said: “Today, I’m not making any kind of policy decisions on that, other than to say it certainly merits a detailed policy response.”More to follow ...