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From Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland
Published on
Last updated on
From Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland
Published on
Last updated on
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland will have the power to regulate gambling in Ireland both in-person, for example betting shops or casinos, as well as online or remote gambling.
The Authority will regulate gaming, betting and lottery activities.
The National Lottery will not fall under the remit of the GRAI as it is regulated separately through the National Lottery Act 2013 and the office of the Regulator of the National Lottery. Lottery fundraising by political parties will not be regulated by the Authority as it falls under the Electoral Reform Act 2022.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority will license online gaming, lotteries (other than the National Lottery) and gambling activities, including online casinos.
Depending on the type of licence or licences held, a licensee may offer gaming activities either in-person at a premises in the State, online, or a combination of both and the Authority may specify the types of games and activities that may be provided under a gaming licence.
Gaming is defined as a game or activity:
a) of skill or chance, or partly of skill and partly of chance, and
b) where a participant in the game may, having made a payment, win a prize of money or money’s worth.
A license will only be granted by the Regulator for a specified activity. Where an activity is not specified under a licence it should not be provided and any person that does so will be guilty of an offence and liable to up to eight years imprisonment and / or a fine.
The Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 sets out safeguards to expressly protect and prohibit children from participating in gambling or accessing premises where gambling activities are offered.
The Authority will ensure these safeguards are adhered to by the industry. Any person that breaches any of these prohibitions will be guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction, to up to 5 years imprisonment and / or a fine at the discretion of the courts.
The Bill provides the Authority with comprehensive and far-reaching powers in respect of gambling advertising. Gambling advertising must be clearly identifiable and the Bill sets out what information must be included in advertisements.
Advertising portraying gambling as attractive to children will be prohibited. Any advertising that promotes excessive or compulsive gambling or seeks to misrepresent any perceived social or financial benefits of gambling will also be prohibited.
Gambling advertising on social media will be prohibited by default. A person may only receive gambling advertising where they opt in to receiving it on an on-demand or media sharing platform or in the case of social media, only where a person subscribes to the licensee on a specific social media platform.
The Bill provides for a watershed prohibiting the broadcast of gambling advertising on television and radio between the hours of 5:30am and 9:00pm. In addition the Bill provides for a wide-ranging power to allow the Authority to prescribe the times, place and events where gambling advertising can be broadcast, displayed or published. The Authority will also specify the frequency which advertising can be broadcast, the duration of advertisements, and the volume / amount of advertisements that can be shown.
This power will allow the Authority to address the issue of gambling advertising on social media, online and on traditional media such as on television, radio, in publications and outdoor advertising such as billboards etc.
Broadcasters and licensees will be obliged to comply with the obligations concerning advertising and sponsorship. In the case of broadcasters in particular, it has been shown that they have the capacity to replace advertising intended for other jurisdictions with Irish focused advertising. Therefore they should be able to comply with the obligations being introduced in the Bill.
However, if “in event” sponsorship or advertising is permitted in other jurisdictions then that will be outside the jurisdictional remit of the Authority. For example, the Authority will have no role in respect of hoardings inside an English Premier League Club or an athletics stadium overseas during a broadcast or ban sponsorship on jerseys or apparel in another jurisdiction. That type of regulation is for the relevant authority in that jurisdiction.
The Bill includes protections to address sponsorship and the supply of branded clothing and merchandise by gambling companies. It will be an offence to manufacture, sell or supply clothing or merchandise featuring branding of a gambling licensee/gambling activity aimed at children. This includes items that are provided free of charge. It will be an offence for licensees to sponsor:
It will be an offence for a licensee to offer a person any form of inducement to encourage them to gamble or to continue to gamble. Examples of inducements currently offered by the gambling industry include the offer of hospitality or VIP treatment, free bets, the return of losses as free bets, or favourable bets / better odds to entice a person to gamble, to continue gambling or to dissuade them from stopping gambling where they have indicated an intention to do so.
The Minister, in consultation with The Authority may make regulations to limit or prohibit the offer of promotions that directly or indirectly encourage people to gamble.
A person that breaches any of these measures will be guilty of an offence and liable, on conviction, to up to 5 years imprisonment and / or a fine at the discretion of the courts.
Designed to help address Problem Gambling, the National Gambling Exclusion Register will be operated by the Authority. People will be able to register with the Authority to exclude themselves from gambling online with licensees. Any person may exclude themselves from specific gambling activities, with specific licensees, or with all licensees for a specific or indefinite period of time. The operation of the Register will be separate to any exclusion schemes operated by licensees.
A licensee may not allow a person on the Register to gamble, accept a payment for gambling from a person on the Register, or communicate with a person on the Register in a manner that would encourage them to gamble or that promotes gambling. Breaches any of these prohibitions will be an offence and liable on conviction to up to 5 years imprisonment and / or a fine at the discretion of the courts.
The Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 provides for a new type of licence that permits gaming, betting and lottery activities for fundraising for charitable and philanthropic purposes such as local sports clubs, good causes, etc. Previously such licences were limited to lottery activity. The provision for a gambling licence for Charitable / Philanthropic purposes will continue current policy to permit certain types of gambling for charitable purposes as provided for in the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 (as amended). Those applying for these types of licence will need to apply to the Authority in the future.
The raffling of new homes has become popular in recent years and this activity will also be licensed. A new type of licence will allow for once off lotteries (to be operated once every 12 months) for prizes of up to €360,000 in value for both commercial and charitable / philanthropic purposes.
The Bill provides for the establishment of a Social Impact Fund to be managed by the Authority. Funded by mandatory contributions calculated annually on each licensee’s turnover, the Fund will finance research and related initiatives to reduce and eliminate compulsive and excessive gambling, to support awareness–raising and educational measures and to support problem gambling treatment activities (by relevant health professionals).
Research Institutions, Charities, Support Organisations and others will be eligible to apply for funding, once the Social Impact Fund is established.