A Complex History of Legislation: Gambling in Ireland

Regardless of the legislation, there is no denying that the Irish have a reputation for loving their horseracing and along with the horseracing inevitably comes gambling. Almost half the population over the age of fifteen say they have gambled in the previous twelve months. Playing the lottery is the most popular form of gambling, while one in ten people visit a bookmaker’s shop or place a bet trackside at horse or dog racing. Online gambling is on the rise, and the online casino market is projected to be worth €0.64 billion this year, with almost 11% of the population gambling online. This number is expected to grow to around 658,000 (nearly 13%) by 2028.

Gambling in Ireland the key legislation

However, it is not all plain sailing, and it is estimated that one in thirty of the adult Irish population experiences gambling-related problems. That, combined with increased participation, meant the Irish government could not rely on outdated laws and regulations. Despite fears that the horseracing industry could be adversely affected by the introduction of new legislation, a bill was brought forward last year to establish a gambling regulatory authority intended to protect children and people who could be vulnerable to problem gambling.

The Irish Government says the Bill will ensure all gambling is conducted openly and fairly. It also included safeguards to limit advertising, address problem gambling, and prevent gambling from supporting or being a source of crime.

It is clear that the Irish Government felt that intervention was necessary, so what does this new Bill replace or update?

The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland is part and parcel of the 2022 Gambling Regulation Bill and will see the Regulator taking responsibility for advertising, website and app content. The country’s gambling laws had not been updated since the 1956 Lotteries Act and the 1931 Betting Act. The gambling landscape has shifted so far in the intervening years that new legislation was desperately needed.

However, the drafting of the new law was a slow process. It was first mooted fifteen years ago, and the aim was to create a regulatory system that brought mobile, online and in-person laws under one umbrella. While the UK was an early adopter of iGaming, its Gambling Act of 2005 has struggled to keep pace with the fast-paced changes in the sector, including live dealer gaming, blockchain technologies, cryptocurrencies, the meteoric rise of mobile apps and the volume of gambling advertising and sponsorship deals. The Irish regulatory system has banned gambling ads on TV between 5 pm and 9.30 pm, introduced a blanket ban on social media advertising, and has restrictions on sports club sponsorships for gambling companies.

The new law prohibits gambling stakes from being paid for using credit cards, and VIP schemes and bonuses are carefully monitored. Online casino promotions need to be judged as being fair. Players can find those that best suit their playing requirements with research from Casino.org and be confident that they are playing on trustworthy sites that are deemed to be safe, secure and licensed.

Operators are not permitted to offer promotions that are considered too enticing. The new Regulator will be responsible for issuing online operator licenses, and only those of good standing will be able to conduct business in the country. There will be a Social Impact Fund to research and implement programs to help people who experience problem gambling.

All of this is a far cry from what preceded it. In-person casino gambling was operated by exploiting a loophole in the 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act, which banned commercial casinos. By creating private members clubs, enterprising casino operators set up gambling clubs offering slots and table games including poker, blackjack and roulette. Despite being officially ‘illegal,’ there are fourteen land-based casinos in Ireland that operate as member-only gambling clubs and legally allow people to play for real money.

Recently, attempts have been made to introduce legislation for up to forty legal commercial casinos in the country, but it is unclear if and when this will make its way to the statute book. If adopted, membership requirements for land-based casinos would change. The law also includes a provision for changes to the poker and bingo industries on and offline.

Sports betting and horseracing have long been a staple of Irish culture. The earliest gambling laws, the 1931 Betting Act, regulated bookmaking and pari-mutuel betting. It was updated in 2015 to allow offshore operators and betting exchanges to be covered by domestic policy. This had the effect of preventing revenue raised by offshore operators from flowing out of the country without benefiting the Irish economy.

Commercial bingo halls are prohibited under the 1956 Gaming and Lottery Act. However, it should not come as a great surprise to discover the owners of these establishments have adopted the same member-only approach as the owners of the casino clubs. Member-only clubs mean bingo can be played in person for real money, and there are also plenty of legal online bingo sites for Irish players.

Having said the most popular form of gambling in Ireland is buying a lottery ticket or scratch card, it might surprise readers to find out that the legislation governing this is relatively recent. The 1986 National Lottery Act allowed for the creation of the Lotto game and scratch cards to raise funds for good causes (and to give people a chance to dream of winning big, too).

This law was updated in 2013, and it was mainly driven by financial hardships that the Republic of Ireland was facing at the time. It allowed for the sale of online lottery tickets. Some of the license fee sold to the third-party operator was used to fund more good causes, and projects that benefited included the construction of a national children’s hospital.

Compared to some European countries, the Irish approach is light-touch when it comes to gambling legislation. However, the main thrust of the latest changes is to ensure that people receive the maximum protection while not being overly restricted in what they can legally play.

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