The legislation creates a framework for the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland.

Ireland.- The Gambling Regulation Act has been enacted by President Michael D. Higgins after being passed by parliament last month. After a long four-year journey into law, the act will introduce a new regulatory framework for gambling, including for the new national gambling regulator, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI).

The GRAI will be helmed by CEO-designate Anne Marie Caulfield and an eight-person board. Interviews are due to commence to select candidates after the application period closes this week. The regulator will oversee the introduction of various aspects of the new legislation, including the launch of a Social Impact Fund. This will direct levies on the gambling industry to educational measures and gambling treatment services, which are to be provided by the state.

The bill includes a ban on gambling using credit cards and limitations on advertising and bonuses, but not the complete bans that some senators have been pushing for. It will also create a national gambling self-exclusion programme.

Late amendments give the GRAI the right to publish the details of regulatory breaches by licensees and of any sanctions imposed. Another amendment allow the regulator to apply for court orders to block the advertising of unlicensed gambling operators. 

Minister of state James Browne TD told Dublin People: “It has been a lot of work over four years. It’s a very complex piece of legislation – one of the biggest passed by the Dáil in the last four years, with 270 sections. We are regulating a multi-billion Euro industry that so far really has not been regulated at all.

“Gambling has very much been the Wild West in this country for way too long and that has had real consequences for people having had their lives often destroyed as a result of gambling addiction and suffering serious losses as a result of problem gambling. 

“We came at this from a public health perspective to not simply regulate a massive industry but also making sure that that industry was regulated from a perspective of protecting the general public; problem gamblers and people with serious gambling addictions as well”. 

Other stakeholders welcomed the enactment of the legislation. Barry Grant, a gambling addiction counsellor and advocate with Extern Problem Gambling, told Dublin People: “This is a huge step forward because we have been waiting and campaigning for a long time to see that happen so it’s a great piece of news to see this finally finished.” 

Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Assembly’s All-Party Group (APG) on Reducing Harm Related to Gambling has called for new rules for gambling advertising north of the border. The APG signalled the Republic of Ireland’s new legislation as a model to follow.