Ireland Has a New Gambling Regulation Bill – What it Means For Gambling in Ireland

It brings a new framework and way of operating for an industry already projected to take over a billion US dollars this year. It outlines new rules and regulations for both gambling in person and gambling online.

The new regulations outline player safety measures and schemes and methods to ensure that responsible gambling is promoted. There will be a national self-exclusion register that must be enacted if people wish to exclude their details from gambling games. There are also new restrictions on advertising for gambling and ads will not be shown during the day.

The three different types of licences that will be issued under the framework and relevant to Irish businesses are:

• Business to Consumer Licences;
• Business to Business Licences;
• Charitable / Philanthropic Licences.

Licences will be required to operate under the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) that has been set up to enforce the rules.

The GRAI will immediately launch operations once a board is appointed and has been allocated €9.1m in 2025 to help with the initial costs.

The CEO of this new organisation will be experienced governor Anne Marie Caulfield who spoke in a statement about the importance of safe gambling but also enabling growth in an industry that may be lucrative to Ireland in the future: “As CEO designate of the new Authority, I am determined to ensure that licensees operate in accordance with the legislation while also fulfilling our mandate to establish safeguards to address problem gambling. We are also committed to engaging with stakeholders as we establish this new regulatory regime for Ireland’s gambling and gaming sector.”

A crackdown on black market operators has also been promised as Ireland looks to create an industry that works for the country.