For those that live in Ireland, the desire to have a bet or two is likely to be just as present as it is for people living almost anywhere else in the world. Given the fact that some countries have made gambling entirely illegal, however, there will be a natural desire for many to find out whether or not they’re able to have a flutter whilst either living in Ireland or visiting the country for a period. Interestingly, even those that have previously known about the law might not know how things are nowadays, given that the law changed in 2024. We will look to outline what you need to know here.
Licensed Gambling Is Legal
Probably the first thing that you will want to know is also the most important point: gambling is legal in Ireland as long as it is licensed. The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, often referred to by the acronym GRAI, was formed as part of the Gambling Regulation Act of 2024 and takes on the role of issuing gambling licences to companies that want one. There are other things that are part of the GRAI’s remit, which we will come to shortly, but the key one is that any company that wants to be able to offer gambling to people in Ireland has to have a licence.
That is good news for Irish people and anyone visiting the country, as it means that you will be able to have a flutter without risking being on the wrong side of the law, provided the company that you are placing your bets with is licensed to offer them. That includes any online betting companies, as well as gaming and some activities that include lotteries. Any decision around which companies will hold a licence is made by the GRAI, which also involves both special licences for charitable purposes and the job of renewing a previously issued licence to any given company.
Activities That Do and Don’t Require a Licence
As you might imagine, there are many things that fall under the purview of the GRAI, whilst there are also a number of things that don’t. In terms of what does require a licence in Ireland, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland regulates gaming, betting and the lottery. Any charities or people hoping to raise money for a good cause through gambling activities will also need to deal with the GRAI. Obviously, that is a quite an all-encompassing group, to say nothing of the fact that ‘gaming’ seems to be a somewhat vague term, given the fact that it doesn’t mean anyone wishing to play Fortnite will need a licence.
When it comes to what doesn’t need a licence from the GRAI, the list is much more defined. The National Lottery, for example, comes under the auspices of the National Lottery Act of 2013, meaning that the GRAI has no authority over it. Similarly, political parties that have fundraising lotteries don’t need to worry about the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, instead coming under the Electoral Reform Act of 2022. You might think that one-off lotteries or raffles might not need a licence, but they do, with a maximum winnings of €360,000 available.
If you were looking to run a lottery for a philanthropic purpose, such as for charitable reasons, you won’t need a licence provided you will not make any personal profit from the lottery, as well as the total value of the winnings remaining under €2,000. The minimum payment to take part in such a charitable lottery cannot exceed €5, whilst you won’t be able to sell more than 1,500 tickets. You also can’t offer such lotteries within a three-month period of already having offered one that meets the same requirements, which is worth bearing in mind if you’re hoping to do it on a regular basis.
If you want to run a lottery in conjunction with the selling or marketing of products, that is also ok to be done without a licence from the GRAI on the proviso that you don’t take any payment in order to allow someone to take part in said lottery. The exception to this is if the lottery requires the purchase of a product or service that the lottery is being put on in conjunction with. The total value of any winnings cannot exceed €5,000, nor can there be any additional payment needed in order for the winner to get their payout, which has to be made within the first six months of the launch of the lottery.
There are other lottery types that don’t require a licence from the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, such as one as part of an additional service offered by a credit union. Any non-interest-bearing securities, which are known as prize bonds, won’t need a licence either, as long as they’ve been both created and issued by either the Minister for Finance or the National Treasury Management Agency. Any financial instrument that is analogous to those prize bonds, which has been created by either a Member State, a regional authority or the local authority.
Why the Licensing Matters
Having read all of that, you would be well within your rights to wonder why it all matters. After all, if gambling is legal in Ireland, why do we need to know all about the various licensing laws? The answer is that the Act of 2024 has changed things significantly, which is likely to have an impact on bettors up and down the country. Amongst the key changes are the licensing and compliance alterations that we’ve already gone into, but there are other things that you are more likely to notice if you are someone that has already spent time placing bets in Ireland.
The first is the enhanced protections offered to players, which are in place thanks to the mandatory measures that have been introduced with the specific aim of preventing gambling addiction and helping those that already suffer from it. These measures include self-exclusion programmes, in addition to funding for research, training and community interventions around addiction. That is covered by the Social Impact Fund, which we will look at in more detail shortly. It is hoped that this will both reduce or even eliminate compulsive gambling and the social impact from it.
Arguably one of the biggest changes comes in the form of the promotions and inducements that are now allowed to try to get people to take part in gambling activities. For starters, advertising is only allowed outside of the hours of 05:30 and 21:00. Even then, gambling adverts can only be directed at people who already have an account and who actively follow the social media accounts of the gambling operator. Although free bets and special offers can be put forward to the general public, they can’t target specific individuals or groups, with any inducement forbidden from potentially contributing to excessive or compulsive gambling.
To put it another way, as a general punter looking to place a bet on something or take part in some other form of gambling whilst you’re in Ireland, you almost certainly won’t notice any major changes. That is because we tend not to be able to identify things that aren’t there anymore, so the lack of major gambling adverts on the television, in newspapers or on billboards won’t be something that we see, but it will mean that people are significantly less likely to want to place a bet or engage in gambling in some other way, which is the ideal situation for most people to be in.
Offences and Penalties
As you might imagine, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland is going to be far from toothless when it comes to being able to issue companies who commit an offence with a penalty. Anyone who breaches the Gambling Act of 2024 is likely to be liable for an offence, with different fines put in place for the different breaches of the Act. The use of credit cards to pay for gambling activities is now forbidden, for example, so anyone who allows someone to circumvent such a prohibition is liable to be issued with a Class A fine, which will not exceed €5,000, or a year in prison, or both.
The Gambling Act has outlined the potential for various fines and penalties to be issued to those who breach the legislation. The exact penalty that will be issued will depend on the manner of the breach, but a licensee could be hit with a fine of up to €20 million or 10% of the turnover of the licensee, with whichever is the greater amount being the one that they will be hit with. It means that people or companies who don’t take the new legislation seriously will be hit with a hefty fine that will have a definite impact on their bottom line, given it is their turnover that will be affected.
The Social Impact Fund
As mentioned, the Gambling Act of 2024 introduces a Social Impact Fund, which will invest money into research, education, training and gambling treatment or intervention strategies, as well as aiming to raise public awareness around the issue of gambling-related harm. Gambling providers operating in Ireland will need to contribute to the Social Impact Fund thanks to an annual contribution, the amount of which will be based on the turnover of each company, with the amount being set by the Minister. Organisations and charities can apply for funding on an annual basis.
Those that can apply to the fund are any charities or organisations that focus on the main areas that the fund is focussed on. That is to say, an organisation that is aimed at conducting research around the impact of gambling or is hoping to educate others about the issue will be able to apply for funding. Similarly, any organisation that offers training to people to help others with gambling addiction or that includes preventative initiatives may be able to gain funding, as can treatment services and activities that aim to raise public awareness of the damage gambling can do.
Children & Gambling
As you can probably imagine, one of the main aims of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland is to stop anyone under the age of 18 from taking part in gambling, as well as seeing much about it. It is an offence for children to participate in any form of gambling in Ireland, meaning that children will be forbidden from accessing any place where gambling is offered, as well as from being employed in gambling services or taking part in gambling activities. Anyone found guilty of breaching the rules will have been seen to have committed an offence, which can result in up to eight years in prison.
It isn’t just allowing children to take part in gambling or be physically located somewhere where gambling is taking place that is affected by the Act. Any advertising that could appeal to people under the age of 18 is banned, whilst the making, selling or supplying of clothing or items aimed at children and featuring the branding of a gambling body will also be an offence, including free items. Events aimed at children or where the majority of the participants are under the age of 18 can’t be sponsored by gambling firms, whilst the same is also true of a public activity that may appeal to children.
Betting Tax in Ireland
The way that gambling tax has worked in Ireland has changed numerous times over the years. In 1931, for example, the first law to regulate gambling was introduced, laying the foundation for what would follow as far as lotteries were concerned, but a new law in 1954 allowed for other types of gambling to come in. Two years later, the introduction of casino gaming came in in the form of small venues. It took another 30 years before a revamp of the way that betting winnings were taxed in Ireland came about, with a flat rate of 20% having been in place on all winnings before that.
In 2015, the legislation that had been in place for 80 years was finally amended, seeing the operators being taxed irrespective of where they were based, with both companies offering services to punters in Ireland and the bettors themselves having to pay tax in Ireland. From 2019 onwards, any company based offshore hoping to provide services to Irish punters had to pay an excise duty of 2%. Nowadays, broadly speaking, operators are taxed 12% of their profits, but this can vary depending on whether it is a private venue that provides a gambling service.