Ireland’s new gambling regulator will soon begin issuing licences according to the government, following approval by a high ranking minister.
Jim O’Callaghan, the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, has given the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) the green light to begin issuing licences.
The Minister stated that the GRAI can begin issuing licences ‘for new entrants as soon as is feasible’. The GRAI can begin issuing online licences from 1 July 2026 and in-person licences from 1 December 2026.
Companies will have to apply for a GRAI licence once existing licences issued by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners expire. Some companies, like Welsh firm DragonBet, have only just launched in Ireland under a Revenue Commissioners licence.
This marks a big step forward in Ireland’s iGaming overhaul, with the Gambling Regulation Act of 2024 repealing the legacy Totalisator Act of 1929 and Betting Act of 1931, which were deemed largely ineffective at governing Ireland’s new digitally-led gaming market.
“Today marks another important step towards replacing Ireland’s outdated gambling laws with a streamlined and simplified licensing framework,” O’Callaghan remarked.
“This reflects the nature of modern gambling and takes into account the harms associated with problem gambling, by providing safeguards to protect people from those harms, especially children.”
A long-time coming for Ireland?
The Gambling Regulatory Bill was introduced to the Oireachtas legislature back in 2022, and followed years of deliberation around Irish gambling regulation going back to the 1990s.
With the exception of an amendment in 2015, Ireland’s legislative framework around gambling largely dated back to the aforementioned decades of the 1920s and 1930s and it was widely felt it did not meet the demands of the modern online market.
The bill passed the final stage of the Oireachtas on 16 October 2024 and was signed into law by then-President Michael D Higgins soon after.
Key measures of the Bill included the creation of the GRAI, the creation of a mandatory Social Impact Fund to minimise gambling harm and support treatment and prevention initiatives, and new standards around player protection and advertising.
The legislative process saw extensive engagement between the industry and government, although some contention remains around gambling advertising and the industry’s societal impact, particularly on young and vulnerable people.
While giving the greenlight for the GRAI to begin stepping up its regulatory remit, with the authority having steadily been rolling out since 2025, also comes with somewhat of a warning around non-compliance. The industry has been reminded that the GRAI has been given various enforcement powers under the Act.
O’Callaghan remarked: “The Act provides the Authority with the necessary enforcement powers to take appropriate and focused action where licensees fail to comply with licensing terms, conditions and regulations, and to deal with unlicensed operators, those operating without the correct licence, or those in contravention of the terms of a licence issued by the Authority.”