From the 5th of March, the Gambling Regulatory Body of Ireland (GRAI) has been made responsible for overseeing licensing and regulation in Ireland. The overwhelming amount of information and discussion makes it difficult for punters to understand in simple terms what the GRAI is and furthermore, what they have authority over. Below, with the help of the betting experts at Scs we will discuss exactly what this monumental change means for gamblers.Â
What Are The New Gambling Rules?
The GRAI is a regulatory body in charge of managing gambling in Ireland and hence ensuring customer safety. It was established by the Gambling Act of 2024 which was passed at the end of last year, three years after it was announced to the public, with the aim of revolutionizing the old gambling law that needed reconstruction in order to keep up with modern betting. With exception of the National Lottery, the GRAI is tasked with controlling licensing, advertising, education, and bringing about punishment to gambling establishments that fail to properly operate within the scope of what’s legal.Â
By appointing members in sectors like technology, compliance, and gambling addiction, the government hopes to implement a better, more rigid framework to carry out customer safety. To effectuate these tasks, just over €9.1 million will be awarded to the GRAI in 2025 to help the regulatory body with fulfilling these new policies. Nearly half of this sum is going to be received by the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, who hope to improve security on digital platforms and develop better systems for monitoring online gambling.
What Is The Role of GRAI?
Hitting the ground running, the GRAI has already put several policies in place and is working on finalizing others.Â
Perhaps the biggest role of the GRAI is licensing betting operators, which includes both online and in-person establishments. This means that for a gambling company to legally operate in Ireland, it must obtain a license awarded from the GRAI. Essentially this is a stamp of approval to prove that the operators have been carefully vetted through a series of investigations into their background, data protection, finances, and customer safety strategies. This combats a huge problem in gambling nowadays; black market betting companies that risk identity theft and fraud, and compromise the reputation of the industry. In addition, Scs.ie says that customers should be able to view a comprehensive list of licensed gambling operators in Ireland and cross-reference this list to see whether a site they are potentially considering using is approved. In situations where they are not, the same customers can then go on to report the establishment and this will set off an investigatory procedure carried out by the individuals of the GRAI. All complaints will be dealt with in a swift time frame.
Another role of the GRAI is to enforce the advertising restrictions proposed, which will come into effect when the order is commenced. These restrictions will aim to control advertisements and stop them from being excessive, and appearing attractive and glamorized. First of all, television and radio advertisements will become illegal between 5:30 AM and 9:00 PM, in a bid to prevent children from being enticed and also distract adults. More information about the frequency and duration of these advertisements will be announced hopefully in the coming months, but this is a step forward in the right direction. What’s more, gambling will also be limited on social media. This is exactly the kind of renewal that was necessary in comparison to the old gambling legislation. Punters should only see advertisements pop up if they have a registered account with the social media in question, and they are also subscribed to the betting site on the same platform. Should a gambling company fail to comply they will be punished with either a fine or even imprisonment for up to 5 years in more serious offences. Many betting sites target social media and advertise their new customer offers but cracking down on this will lead to better management of gambling addiction.
Money laundering is a prevalent issue in gambling, especially in black market casinos. This is a great threat to punters because when using a betting service they must use their personal information to fund their account. Therefore, there should be a guarantee of safety and data protection. However, with the demand of expanding the number of payment methods a gambling operator accepts, comes the risk of criminal activity. Cryptocurrency is the main way that this occurs because of the anonymity element. The GRAI is also tasked with monitoring illegal activities like this and safeguarding customers from such problems. This aligns with licensing laws because if a betting site is operating without one, punters are urged to avoid the company in case they are processing illegal payments.
How Does This Affect Punters?
You may be thinking, how does all of this affect me as a consumer? Although the GRAI is responsible for managing gambling with the policies we mentioned above, there are also many ways in which they are directly engaging with punters. The main takeaway is that this governing authority was appointed to make gambling safer and therefore the new gambling rules are a positive.
The GRAI will establish the National Exclusion Register, an incentive that protects vulnerable punters from falling into addiction. Anyone can register, and by doing so you preclude yourself from betting. In turn, gambling operators will be prohibited by law from allowing persons on this register to gamble, and also will not be able to get in touch with them. Although the majority of betting sites give punters the option to self-exclude, the register will prevent any betting with gambling platforms in Ireland and also penalize them for not adhering to these rules.
All of these new rules combined promise a safer future for punters in Ireland. The GRAI will maintain a more secure environment for gambling, and make smoother the path of those who deal with addiction.
