The Programme for Government is clear about its commitment to introducing a gambling regulator concerned with public safety and well-being, covering all aspects of gambling, including in-person and online, and with the power to regulate advertising, sites, and apps for gambling.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland will act as an oversight body regulating all gambling activities done either in-person such as betting shops or casinos or online or remote gambling.
The Authority will regulate gaming, betting and lottery activities.
The GRAI shall not have any jurisdiction over the National Lottery, given the fact that it is regulated separately by the National Lottery and the office of the Regulator of the National Lottery; on the flip side, lottery fundraising by the political parties does not get any coverage from the Authority, given that it falls under the Electoral Reform.
Online Gambling
The Gambling Regulatory Authority will be responsible for licensing online gaming, lotteries - except for the National Lottery - and gambling activities, including online casinos.
Depending on the type or types of licence the licensee holds, gaming activities may take place in-person at premises within 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;
The first kind of game is that of skill attritional, that is neither wholly of skill nor of chance but combines skill and chance in varying proportions. Second, a game is one in which the player, after paying a consideration, may win a prize of money or an item of value.
The Regulator shall only grant a license for a particular activity. Where the license does not specify the activity that may be done, the activity should not be performed or else the offender will be guilty of an offence, liable to eight years of imprisonment, and/or a fine.
In this context, those who are craving easy entry points into online gambling may find €1 minimum deposit casinos appealing. These platforms, which let players begin to set the stakes with as little as €1, will also become the responsibility of the Gambling Regulatory Authority, ensuring that they respect all pertinent laws.
Safeguarding Children
The Gambling Regulation Act provides for a variety of safeguards, which expressly protect and prohibit children from either participating in gambling or accessing other premises wherein gambling activities are being offered.
The industry will be controlled by the Authority to make sure that these safeguards are observed. A person guilt of carrying out any of these prohibitions will commit an offence and on conviction is liable to be imprisoned for a term that may extend to five years and / or a fine which the courts may impose at its discretion.
Advertising
The Act gives the Authority extensive, even far-reaching, powers over gambling advertising. So, gambling advertising has to be identifiable, and the Act describes what information must be included in an advertisement.
It is prohibited to advertise gambling in any way that makes it attractive to kids. also prohibited is any advertising that promotes excessive gambling or compulsive gambling or seeks to misrepresent any perceived social or financial benefits of gambling.
Gambling advertising on social media should always be prohibited by default. A person may only receive gambling advertising where they make an active decision to receive it on-demand or media sharing platform or within social media, only if they aso subscribed to the licensee in a specific social media platform.
The Act establishes a watershed, restricting gambling advertising on television and radio between 5:30am and 9:00pm. Further, the Act provides the Authority with sweeping powers to prescribe the particular times, places, events, and any other conditions under which gambling advertising may be broadcast, displayed, or published. It will also regulate the rates at which advertising can be broadcast, the duration of each advertisement, and the volume or number of ads that can be shown.
This power will enable the Authority to tackle the issues of gambling advertising on social media, online and in traditional media like on television, radio, publications and outdoor advertising such as billboards etc.
There will be duties and obligations attached to the advertising and sponsorship. On the part of broadcasters, however, it has been shown that they can supersede advertising intended for other jurisdictions with that focused on Ireland. Thus, they should be able to operate with total compliance with the obligations now being introduced in the Act.
The Authority shall, however, not do anything in respect of “in-event” sponsorship or advertising that is permissible in other jurisdictions. For example, it means that the Authority shall not interfere on matters such as, hoardings inside an English Premier League Club, or an athletics stadium abroad during a broadcast, or ban sponsorship on jerseys or apparel in some other jurisdiction. The relevant authority in that jurisdiction would handle this type of regulation.
Sponsorship and Inducements
The Act contains safeguards which purport to tackle gambling companies concerning sponsorship and supply of branded clothing and merchandise: it is going to be illegal to manufacture, sell, or supply clothing or other items that may bear the brand name of a gambling licensee/gambling activity and are aimed at children. It further includes items given free of charge. It will be an offence of licensees to sponsor:
- an event (not limited to sporting events) where the majority of participants or competitors are children;
- an event aimed at children;
- an organisation, club or team, or any premises used by organisation, club or team that has children as members; or
- a public activity that appeals to children.
For a licensee to offer a person or group any kind of inducement to encourage them to gamble or to continue to gamble will constitute an offence. Inducements being offered in the gambling industry these days may include invitations to have meals, stay in luxury hotels and enjoy fancy treatment, the offer of free bets, the return of losses as free bets, or favourable bets or better odds, all meant to induce a person or group to start gambling, continue gambling, or try to stop when they have said they are trying to do so.
The Minister, in consultation with The Authority, shall make regulations that limit or prohibit offering promotions that directly or indirectly encourage people to gamble.
A person who breaches any of these measures will be guilty of an offence and liable, upon conviction, to a term of imprisonment of not more than 5 years and/or a fine in a reasonable amount determined by the courts.