Gambling in Ireland: An Overview of Its Legal Framework – Galway Daily

Gambling, a tradition that has been part of Irish society for ages, is a cultural element that brings Ireland face -to -face with the pro-gambling status. The latest Irish law advocates for widespread management of the offline casinos and the online gambling sites within its territory. In spite of this nation being mostly famous for its horse and greyhound races, other kinds of casino games are also becoming popular among the natives. Wagering shops and gambling establishments have been supervised since the 18th century by different statutes and common law regulations. Irish people invest into lottery, online and offline gambling to be more than bn Euro a year. Their gambling opportunities include horse and greyhound race betting, state-sponsored lotteries, casino games like online blackjack, poker, and others. Ireland’s poker gaming industry is particularly booming and most impressive in this regard. Moreover, the country provides remote interactive gambling on the country-domestically licensed gambling websites and the government-approved offshore online gambling sites. However, it is important to mention that some laws amendments in the Irish gambling sphere last several years caused banning gambling with money from credit cards and stopping VIP memberships and free bets promotions. Moreover, the Gambling Regulation Bill could result in levies on licensees. Even though these regulatory instruments are put in place, the general epidemic of problem gambling remains a major problem, with as many as 10% of the Irish adults suffering from it.

Summary

In Ireland, gambling was illegal and had no provisions and controls for a quite long period of time and only 6 years after the country got its independence it enacted the Gaming and Lotteries Act in 1956. This law, then, prohibited the casino business from being done in the country. Nevertheless, the legislation allowed someone to sidestep it by establishing signing-in private members clubs.

These clubs, legal under Irish law, operate as clones of a mini-casino, and offer a range of games including slots, video poker, blackjack and poker among others. This number is predicted to increase to about 14 by 2020,most of these clubs being in Dublin and its environs. To participate in the club games one is required to be a member of the group’s member. The gambling for real money at these casinos is completely legal because neither of those contradicts the 1956 Act.

The Gaming and Lotteries Act adopted in 1956 represents a defining part in legislation governing the present gaming and gambling space of Ireland.

Applicable Laws and Legal Structure

Casino gambling in Ireland was legalized in 2013 with the introduction of the Gambling Control Bill. This bill was designed to replace the Irish outdated gambling legislation by putting the vast majority of gambling activities under one umbrella bill. Nevertheless, parliamentary approval is yet to be forthcoming.

The Irish Gambling Control Bill 2018 was recently moved with the changes in the gambling industry taking into account since 2013. Its main objective is thus to control and monitor all gambling places no matter their forms whether they are land-based casinos or online casinos in Ireland. Moreover, the legislation proposes the formation of the Office of Gambling Control Ireland (OGCI), that will regulate these activities, ensure players rights protection and prevent children from accessing such content.

Despite this, in the bill, the number of physical casino licenses is limited to 40 throughout the country at the same time and no provision has been made for ‘supercasino.’ Each Casino is to operate not more than 15 tables and 25 gaming machines.

The bill covers bookmaking as well. Provided that the bill can pass, the Office of Gambling Control Investigations (OGCI) will issue about 5 types of gambling and betting licenses, which include mobile, personal, temporary, remote, and betting licenses. The next one would cover both betting and games. But the supervision of betting on horse racing and greyhound racing will rest with the Horse Racing Ireland and the Greyhound Board, respectively.

Lotteries and Gaming Regulations

The regulation of gaming and lottery in Ireland is mainly by the Gambling and Lottery Act of 1956. This may be an act of law deeming all kinds of playing illegal. There are exceptions though. However, these exceptions are classified into two categories. The first relates to the gaming events during carnivals, circuses, or peripatetic shows, while the second concerns the administration of gambling activities or games.

It’s not clear in the 1956 Act, though, whether it does speak of online gambling. However, some of the existing provisions can be technically considered in relation to this. Although the necessity of legislative amendments is clear to make the Act more modern and more applicable to online gaming, it is still unclear how to include online gaming under the scope of the Act.

However, already in 1956 Ireland made lotteries legal with the Gaming and Lottery Act but restrictions apply. The largest of them – the Irish National Lottery (which operates under the provisions of the National Lottery Act of 2013). Consequently, the national lottery games must operate in accordance with the rules that have been approved and imposed by the minister of finance.

Betting

Before 2015, the Betting Act of 1931 was the major legislation that regulated any sporting or betting activity that had replaced its predecessor, the Betting Act of 1926. Betting on horseracing does remain the main sport for gambling here in Ireland. The Sports Betting Amendment Act of 2015 saw the establishment of specific conditions of licensing and an approval process under which it was possible for offshore sportsbooks and betting exchanges to bring their activities in tune with Irish licensing principles and taxing rules. Under this piece of legislation a company must possess a remote bookmaker’s or a betting intermediary’s license in order to provide betting services to Irish citizens. So any person or company that wants to offer betting services in Ireland without a permit is illegal.

Online Gambling

Ireland was among the first countries in the world to liberate online gambling and by 2003 all internet gambling was formally legalized. This was followed by the unveiling of the nation’s very first online bookmaking platform in 2004 and this signaled the entrance of many operators in its online area. During this time, the Irish government issued licenses to online casinos with a view to operate within its territory. However, according to the law, Irish citizens are free to play any legal interactive casino games featured both by domestic certified online gambling sites and legally authorized off-shore platforms.

Prior to the establishment of the first tax or regulatory framework that was specifically targeted at the issue of online gambling in Ireland, the country lacked such a framework. Nevertheless, this changed when the government made a decision to then propose the Irish Betting (Amendment) Bill in 2012. The main purpose of this bill was to pass legislation that would fill the gap that resulted from the 1931 Betting Act in regards to online gambling. Pursuant to this legislation all bookmakers, who accept stakes from local people need to receive an Irish betting license. Besides, any operator accepting online bets and generating either over €200,000 or 10% in total turnover regardless of whether they are in Ireland or abroad will be required to obtain a “remote bookmakers” license. Bookmakers, or even online casinos could face a criminal charge should they use the service without a license.

As of 2020, bookmakers who operate in Ireland face a turnover tax of 1%, of which 1% is charged to both Irish retail and remote bookmakers who accept bets from Irish customers. The other tax is 23% on VAT charged on any gaming revenue offered to Irish customers electronically.

The announcement by the Minister of Finance is that the proposal of putting a higher tax on online gambling has been delayed even though the promotion of online gambling is high. This leading time ensures bookmakers a span of time to familiarize themselves with the novel taxing rules before they kick in. This set of new regulations had been deliberated on for a couple of years ago but the legislative process was slowed down until it did come to a deadlock.