Last night (16 October 2024), the long-awaited Gambling Regulation Bill finally completed its journey through the Oireachtas. While the Bill itself has been the subject of passionate debate and has seen many amendments since it was first introduced at the end of 2022, its enactment would bring the regulation of gambling activities in Ireland into the twenty first century.
A key question for many gambling operators will be, what happens next? The first thing to note is that the Bill must be signed into law, therefrom becoming the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 (the “Act”), before any of its provisions may come into operation. The Minister for Justice (the “Minister”) indicated his intent to enact the legislation as quickly as possible. Once enacted, there is scope for the Act to be brought into operation section by section, but the Minister has indicated that his aim is to have the Act commenced in its entirety within a year. The CEO Designate of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (the “Gambling Regulator”) has indicated that there will be a “phased introduction of our functions, with a focus on licensing initially.” With that in mind, of paramount consideration for current licence and permit holders will be the status of their current authorisation(s) in this new regulatory landscape.
Part 10 of the Act contains transitional provisions for, amongst others, holders of current Gaming Permits, Gaming Licences, Lottery Permits and Lottery Licences, Bookmakers Licences, Remote Bookmakers Licences and Remote Betting Intermediary Licences. Crucially, until section 10 of the Act comes into operation in respect of each of the original pieces of legislation under which such existing licences and permits were granted, the status quo is preserved.
In the round, once section 10 of the Act comes into operation in respect of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, Gaming Permits, Gaming Licences, Lottery Permits and Lottery Licences that are in force before that date, will continue in force until the expiration of such licences or permits.
Similarly, the intention appears to be that existing retail bookmaker licences and remote bookmaker and remote betting intermediary licences will have a run-off period under their current licences. However, how the run-off periods will work in practice will depend on how the Act is formally commenced and how the Gambling Regulator develops their new licensing formalities so we will be keeping this issue under review. In this regard, it is interesting to note that the Gambling Regulator has introduced a “register your interest” facility (see here) to assist in estimating the potential volume of licence applicants and to keep potential applicants informed of developments in the licensing process.
It is important to understand that while the Act will be the primary piece of legislation governing gambling once it has been commenced in its entirety, the Gambling Regulator and the Minister may make further regulations under the Act and the Gambling Regulator will have quite a broad remit to prescribe additional obligations on licensees pursuant to the new Act.