Ireland Braces for the Launch of Regulated Gaming as New Rules Come into Effect

Ireland is preparing for the looming arrival of its newly regulated gaming market, with February 5 as the date from which the country’s new regulator will start issuing licenses. This date will therefore mark the culmination of lengthy efforts to modernize the local regulatory framework.

Ireland Becomes a Modern Gaming Market

With the signing of an order to start implementing key tenets of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 by Jim O’Callaghan, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Ireland is preparing to enter into a new age of regulated gaming. The new regulations will replace Ireland’s aged gaming rules by introducing a modern framework that aligns Ireland to other modern gaming markets.

Under the new regulations, Ireland’s new refreshed gaming sector will be under the purview of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI). As the country’s regulator, the GRAI will be responsible for issuing online and land-based gaming licenses to eligible applicants.

O’Callaghan’s order will also enforce some of GRAI’s responsibilities, allowing it to kick off its oversight of Ireland’s gaming market and respond to relevant complaints. Among other things, the authority will be allowed to take action in cases of non-compliance and crack down on illegal operators.

Ireland’s new rules include a variety of safer gaming specifications, such as a prohibition on betting with a credit card and mandatory safer gaming tools.

An Important Step for Gaming

O’Callaghan commented on signing the implementation of core principles of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 into law, calling this an “important step” toward establishing a streamlined and simplified modern licensing framework.

This reflects the nature of modern gambling and takes into account the harms associated with problem gambling, by providing safeguards to protect people from those harms, especially children.

Jim O’Callaghan

O’Callaghan added that the GRAI will start issuing licenses “as soon as is feasible.” In the meantime, existing companies will be eligible to receive new licenses from July 1 for land-based operators and December 1 for online operators, coinciding with the dates on which their current licenses expire.

O’Callaghan added that the recent signing also means that the GRAI is now able to leverage its authority to take action against instances on non-compliance with Ireland’s new gaming framework. Violators will face fines of up to EUR 20 million or 10% of their revenue (whichever is greater).