The long-awaited “Gambling Regulation Bill 2022” has now completed its 20-month passage through the Irish parliamentary process.
The Bill establishes a comprehensive legal, regulatory and licensing framework for all forms of gambling in Ireland (with the exception of the National Lottery). It is a much-needed reform measure which will transform the regulation of gambling in Ireland in a number of ways.
Although the passing of the Bill represents a significant landmark in gambling regulation in Ireland, and operators should take steps now in terms of upping their level of readiness for the new regulatory regime, a number of stages must still occur before the Bill becomes operational as it will now go to President Michael D Higgins for consideration before it is signed into law.
Moving on to its content, the Bill was heavily debated during its passage through parliament, with some heated exchanges on key issues including advertising and inducements in recent weeks.
Opposition made calls for an outright ban on advertising, notwithstanding that the Bill itself contains material restrictions on the scope of what will be permitted, for example gambling advertising is prohibited between 5.30am and 9pm. At the same time, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland - GRAI - is being empowered to regulate advertising on an ongoing and evolving basis, through further regulations, keeping pace with changes in societal attitudes and needs.
As said, the ability of gambling operators to provide promotions, i.e. inducements, has also been a key focus of the Bill since it was published. The first draft of the legislation included a complete ban on any offering but material amendments were made to limit this to a prohibition on offering them to specific persons or groups of persons – but not to the general public.
Due to the early broad definition of “gambling related service” as “facilities for the holding and managing of customer funds”, financial services providers were concerned about the implications for of being caught by the wide scope of businesses which may be subject to B2B licensing, however the reference has now been removed.
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Quelle: Chevron Consultants