The upcoming year is set to bring significant changes to the current gambling laws in Ireland as the government is in the process of updating the regulatory framework that has been described as terribly outdated. A new, draft legislation is expected to be published in the coming months but could this long-awaited reform be finally enacted in 2019?
The new legal framework would regulate the multi-billion gambling and betting industries in Ireland, home to some of the largest betting companies in the world. The Irish Government is now trying to modernize certain aspects of the legislation in order to include some recent forms of gambling and guarantee better protection for the customers. Currently, the industry is regulated by outdated, even obscure laws, as some experts have noted on multiple occasions.
This includes Betting Act 1931, the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, and the Totalisator Act 1929. The Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 can be described essentially as a ban on gaming and lotteries, with certain exceptions in very limited circumstances. There are restrictions on Tote betting, as well, and currently, it cannot be offered directly by operators for profit. Under the Irish regulatory framework, licenses are unavailable to providers of remote gaming, remote lottery or remote Tote betting services. The Betting Act 1931, on the other hand, makes no distinction between Irish and offshore remote bookmakers or “betting intermediaries”.
Despite the small amendments made over the years, these laws do not fully reflect the modern market trends and the rapid growth of Internet gaming. The new, draft legislation, that is yet to be published, should address certain concerns such as gambling addiction and underage gambling, the government has said. Other aspects that would be covered by the updated framework are betting advertising and sponsorship, licensing, virtual betting, and gambling promotions.
It is still unclear, however, whether there would be some regulation of the so-called “loot boxes” and in-game purchases in video games. Earlier this year, gambling authorities across Europe expressed concerns about the potential risks of video game products that have the characteristics of gambling. In September 2018, the Gambling Policy Division of the Irish Department of Justice and Equality signed a Declaration against the “blurring of lines between gambling and gaming”. The Irish agency was one of the 16 regulatory bodies of the Gaming Regulators European Forum (GREF) that inked the document.
Plans for Creating an Independent Regulator
The draft Gambling Control Bill provides for the establishment of an independent regulatory authority that would be responsible for regulating, monitoring, licensing, and enforcement. This new gambling regulator would sit outside of the Department of Justice and Equality and would probably work together with the other authorities and agencies that currently supervise the gambling industry. It is expected to employ up to a hundred people, which suggests that it would be the largest regulatory body, created for the gambling sector in Ireland so far.
The upcoming legislation also envisions the creation of 43 new licences. They would be issued for a wide range of land-based and remote betting and gambling activities. There would also be considerable changes to the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 that is currently focused on gaming machines in amusement arcades. It would be amended to include the rapidly growing online gambling.
After the changes passed in 2015, the Betting Act essentially legalized all forms of online gambling and betting, but the little regulation has led to concerns about the growing gambling addiction in the country. The development of technology in recent years has resulted in the creation of online casinos and betting sites that are extremely accessible and attractive, especially to young people. At the same time, online gamblers can easily lose huge amounts of money online, according to David Stanton, minister of state at the Department of Justice and Equality.
The gambling reform should address these serious issues, he adds. The draft legislation may not be enacted in 2019, however, as it is yet to be published and go through the Oireachtas, the 218-seat Irish Parliament. After a delay of nearly 5 years, the new regulation may come into effect in 2020.
- Author
Daniel Williams
