NEW RULES FOR GAMBLING IN IRELAND

On 23 October 2024, the historic Gambling Regulation Act 2024 (the “Act”) was signed into Irish law by the President, signifying a new era of gambling regulation in Ireland. ¹Department of Justice press release of 4 March 2025, “Minister O’Callaghan establishes GRAI approves appointment of members as new licencing & regulatory framework for gambling begins”, available here. While majority of the provisions of the Act are still awaiting commencement by Ministerial Order as of May 2025, once in force, the Act will entirely replace the existing legal framework for gambling in Ireland by bringing the legislation in line with challenges of modern gambling, establishing a new regulator and introducing a new streamlined licensing regime.

Minister James Browne described the Act’s purpose as follows:

“At its core, this legislation is a public health measure aimed at protecting our citizens from gambling harm, including younger people and those more vulnerable in our communities.”²Department of Justice press release of 16 October 2024, “Minister Browne welcomes passing of historic legislation to streamline, strengthen and modernise gambling regulation”, available here.

The Act is anticipated to have a significant impact across a wide range of business sectors, as in addition to betting, lottery and gaming activities, the Act also applies to the advertisement of those activities on both traditional broadcast media, and on-demand services. Moreover, the Act is deliberately drafted broadly enough to capture operators and activities outside of the traditional gaming sector, depending on the nature of any promotions, lotteries or games offered. It does not affect the National Lottery, which is governed by separate legislation.

Although it was well accepted that the current regime was in need of modernisation and required additional safeguards to protect consumers and children against the harms of gambling, some measures and provisions of the Act were seen as controversial by gambling providers and stakeholders and were subject of robust debate and lobbying. In addition, a number of key restrictions and regulations provided for under the Act are yet to be introduced by the new supervisory authority and the Minister for Justice, so the full scope of the Act and its impact is yet to be defined. The below discussion reflects the anticipated operation of the Act, as of May 2025.

A new regulator

First and foremost, the Act provides for the establishment of Údarás Rialála Cearrbhachais na hÉireann (in the English language, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland or “GRAI”), which will be responsible for implementing the new regime, as well as for monitoring compliance and taking any necessary enforcement action. It was formally established on a statutory basis on 5 March 2025, with seven members being appointed by the Minister of Justice. ³Department of Justice press release of 4 March 2025, “Minister O’Callaghan establishes GRAI approves appointment of members as new licencing & regulatory framework for gambling begins”, available here.

The Act provides that the GRAI will be funded by advances from the Government for this first 3 years, with €9.1 million designated for the GRAI in Budget 2025. After that initial 3 year period, the Act provides that the GRAI should fund itself from licensing charges, with the proviso that the Government may supplement its operational costs if necessary.

Social Impact Fund

The Economic & Social Research Institute has estimated that 1 in 30 adults in Ireland suffer from problem gambling, which is ten times higher than measured in 2019.⁴Economic & Social Research Institute, “Measures of problem gambling, gambling behaviours and perceptions of gambling in Ireland”, 5 October 2023, available here. In light of these figures and warnings of a new “public health emergency”,⁵Sean Murray, “Gambling has caused problems for 10% of Irish adults — ESRI”, Irish Examiner, 5 October 2023, available here. the Act attempts to balance the business interests of gambling providers against the pressing need to ensure consumers and minors are protected from the risks and consequences of engaging in gambling activities.

As part of the strategy to address these risks, the Act introduces a Social Impact Fund, which is intended to finance research, education, training and other social initiatives to tackle and reduce compulsive or excessive gambling and its social impact. The fund is not yet active, but will be established and managed by the GRAI. The GRAI will raise monies for the fund through applying annual contributions on gambling providers (except licensees for charitable or philanthropic purposes) in proportion to their turnover (the percentage is to be set by the Minister of Justice).

Once the fund is established and its funding strategy finalised, charities and organisations involved in specific areas will be able to apply for funding annually.

National Gambling Exclusion Register

Another element of the strategy to combat problem gambling is the National Gambling Exclusion Register, which is to be established and maintained by the GRAI. The register is designed to record and make available to B2C licensees details of persons who have applied to self-exclude from accessing online gambling or being contacted by B2C licensees. The Act goes a step further and prohibits B2C licensees from providing those persons with gambling services, accepting payment or inviting them to participate in gambling. Non-compliance with this obligation constitutes an offence punishable by a fine and / or imprisonment of up to 5 years.

Licensing and Exemptions

The Act established a comprehensive new licensing regime for any “gambling activity”, which includes betting, gaming and lottery activities, as well as the sale or supply of a gambling product or a related gambling service.

Different types of licences – each of which may be for in-person and / or remote gambling – are provided for, including:

• business to consumer (“B2C”) gambling licences:
• business to business (“B2B”) gambling licences;
• gambling licences for a charitable or philanthropic purpose;
• betting licences;
• gaming licences; and
• lottery licences.

B2B licences in particular are a new form of licence to the system, as previously B2B service providers did not need a licence to operate games or lotteries in Ireland (though there was a comparable form of licence for betting intermediary service providers). The B2B licences will be required for “gambling products” and “gambling related service”, the definitions of which are drafted broadly to capture a number of gambling activities and ancillary services, such as risk and fraud management services, online hosting services and installation, maintenance or upgrading of software.

The concept of a gambling licence for charitable and philanthropic services is also new and will apply to gaming or lottery activities used for fundraising by non-profit organisations. This is intended to be a more streamlined process to acknowledge the difference between those organisations and other gambling operators. The Act provides an exemption from the licensing requirements for certain charitable lotteries for small amounts (winnings under €2,000) and lotteries held in conjunction with selling or marketing of products (winnings under €5,000), subject to meeting specific conditions.

The Act describes a detailed application process, including the requirement to publish a public notice 28 days prior to applying for a licence, and sets out various conditions that can be attached to each type of licence. The charges attaching to the various licences on offer have not yet been confirmed.

The GRAI is taking a phased approach to accepting gambling licence application so as to allow for a smooth changeover for existing licence holders (whose licences will remain in force until expiry). The authority has not yet started the new process, but has invited interested parties to register their interest to apply for a licence once it commences. Until the new regime comes into effect, new and existing licence and permit holders can continue to apply for and renew their authorisations under the current licensing procedures.

Advertising

Gambling advertising was one of the most debated and controversial parts of the Act, as there were calls for an outright ban on advertising to be imposed that ultimately was not implemented. The Act, as passed, contains broad-ranging provisions in relation to advertising, including via social media and video-sharing platforms.

One of the most contentious provisions of the Act is the prohibition on broadcasting gambling advertisements between the hours of 5:30am and 9pm. With respect to on-demand media and sound services, gambling advertisements are banned by default unless the persons being shown the ads have an account with the service provider and the licensee generally complies with other advertising rules. For social media and video sharing platforms, the same rules apply, but the intended recipient of the advertisement must also be subscribed to the licensee’s account on that service.

The Act also has strict provisions – possibly to be supplemented by additional GRAI rulemaking – prohibiting advertising gambling to children, including ads portraying gambling as attractive to children, condoning participation in gambling by children, encouraging or causing children to gamble, and exploiting children’s vulnerability. Furthermore, gambling advertisements cannot cause, condone or encourage excessive or compulsive gambling or mislead, deceive or confuse members of the public about the potential social or financial advantages of gambling. Charities and other non-profit organisations will, however, be exempt from some of the stricter rules in this area.

In keeping with its stated purpose to protect the public and tackle problem gambling, the Act empowers the GRAI to strictly regulate and monitor how gambling advertising can be broadcast, displayed or published, such as issuing regulations requiring advertisers to include certain information in their content, prescribe the times, places and events at which advertisements can be shown, their frequency and duration. The GRAI is also empowered to apply to the High Court to prohibit any advertising done in contravention of the Act.

Inducements, Payments and Limits

The issue of gambling operators providing inducements to gamble was also the subject of debate during the legislative process. Ultimately, the outright ban on inducements included in the initial draft legislation was removed and replaced with a prohibition on providing inducements to specific persons or groups, but continuing to allow incentives to the general public.

Holders of B2C licences are prohibited from accepting payment for any relevant gambling activity by credit card or knowingly facilitating the provision of credit in relation to a gambling activity.

Another area of industry criticism has been the introduction of maximum limits on payments and winnings for lotteries, casino games and bingo. For example, for casino games such as roulette, the maximum stake is €10 and winnings are capped at €3,000. Industry stakeholders have opined that these provisions make some of the current gambling activities impossible to operate once the Act comes into effect.

Compliance and Enforcement

To strengthen the regulation of the restrictions and protective measures introduced by the Act, the legislation grants GRAI wide-ranging sanction and enforcement powers, including the power to:

• issue a compliance notice;
• direct an investigation;
• apply to court for suspension or revocation of a licence or to block access to online services;
• conduct an oral hearing;
• apply for emergency orders to protect the public from serious consequences of an ongoing contravention, including blocking access to online services; and
• impose administrative sanctions including: financial penalties (up to €20,000,000 or, if greater, 10% of the licensee’s turnover) or the suspension, revocation or imposition of a condition on any gambling licence.

The explanatory memorandum to the legislation states that “the overall policy intention is to encourage compliance rather than to enforce penalties for non-compliance”⁶Explanatory Memorandum to the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, available here. and section 190(2) of the Act sets out various factors that the GRAI will consider when determining what course of action to take, which include a consideration of the nature, gravity and duration of the breach.

The GRAI must apply to the Circuit Court for confirmation of its decision in relation to a particular contravention and any administrative sanction imposed and an adjudication officer can refer any question of law relating to an administrative sanction to the High Court. Detailed provisions are included in relation to the process of appealing any enforcement powers applied.

A broad range of offences are also provided in the Act that can result in liability for a relevant officer or beneficial owner of a licensee, where it can be proven that they consented or connived in the offence or that they were guilty of wilful neglect. On summary conviction, this may result in the imposition of a class A fine (up to €5,000) and / or imprisonment for up to 12 months or, on indictment, to an unlimited fine and / or imprisonment for up to 5 years.

Finally, all licence holders have an obligation to report any suspicious gambling activity that suggests there is an attempt to influence the outcome of a relevant gambling activity to the GRAI.

Tax implications

To date, the licensing regime for betting and gaming has been governed and administered by the Irish Revenue Commissioners (“Revenue”). From a tax perspective, the main change introduced by the Act is that the GRAI will become responsible for issuing licences and levying licence fees, rather than Revenue.

However, Revenue has confirmed that the existing licensing regime remains in operation until the relevant sections of the Act enter into force and Revenue will continue to issue relevant licences under Betting Act 1931 and the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 in the interim. Both new applicants and current licence holders seeking to renew licences should continue to engage with Revenue and existing licence authorities until the Act has been fully commenced.

There has been no indication that there will be any material change in how excise duty is applied to bookmakers or remote betting intermediaries (ie, providers of betting exchanges) under the new regime. The Finance Act 2024 amended some definitions in the relevant excise legislation and we expect further amendments may be required, once the main provisions of the Act are commenced, to refer to licences which will be issued under the new legal framework. The rate of betting duty was not changed but the Act now provides for a separate ‘remote betting duty’ which applies to bets placed by remote means (as distinct from a single duty which previously applied to both in-person and remote betting). Betting duty and remote betting excise duty continue to apply at a rate of 2% on the value of bets entered in person and remotely, respectively. A 25% betting intermediary duty continues to apply on the commission charged by a remote betting intermediary to persons in Ireland for using the facilities of the intermediary to make bets.

The VAT treatment of betting transactions has not been affected by the Act and we expect that the current exemptions in respect of betting services and remote betting intermediary services will continue to apply. Betting duty essentially replaces VAT on betting transactions. The supply of gaming and e-gaming services by contrast, is subject to VAT in Ireland.

Conclusion

Whilst modernisation of the current system for gambling regulation in Ireland was certainly overdue, at a time when the media in particular is already grappling with increased regulation from ComReg and Coimisiún na Meán, and charitable organisations are imminently facing an increased administrative burden on the coming into force of the Charities (Amendment) Act 2024, the restrictive nature of the Act will undoubtedly present some immediate challenges to gambling providers. However, it does appear that the intention is for the new regime to be introduced gradually, with CEO-designate of the GRAI, Ms Anne Marie Caulfield, noting that there will be “a phased introduction of our functions, with a focus on licensing initially.”⁷Department of Justice press release of 16 October 2024, “Minister Browne welcomes passing of historic legislation to streamline, strengthen and modernise gambling regulation”, available here. The Government has also indicated that it intends to fully commence the Act within 2025, so gambling providers and stakeholders have some time to prepare and adapt for the incoming regulation. In the meantime, the impact on the gambling sector and the success of protective measures remain to be seen.