An outline of the long anticipated legislation to reform Irish gambling laws and establish an independent gambling regulator has now been published. The 224 page General Scheme of the Gambling Regulation Bill was unveiled on 21 October 2021 by James Browne TD, the Minister of State at the Department of Justice who has been tasked with responsibility for gambling law reform.
The Scheme sets out the framework for the future regulation of all forms of gambling services in Ireland. It also provides for the establishment of a new independent regulator, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland. It is significantly more comprehensive and advanced than previous versions published in 2013 and 2018.
Although it is intended that the new regulator will ultimately be self-funding, €500,000 has been set aside by the Irish government in this year's budget for its establishment, to take place side by side with the progression of the draft legislation. This measure in particular appears to suggest a renewed determination to move forward with implementing meaningful Irish gambling law reform.
We summarise in our latest publication some key headlines from the Scheme.
For more information, please contact Katie O'Connor, Partner, Joe Kelly, Partner, Jennifer O'Brien, Solicitor or any member of ALG's Bettting, Gaming & Licensing team.
