Ireland’s newly created gambling regulator aims to be entirely self-financing by 2027 according to its strategy statement, as the organisation prepares to take on oversight of the country’s betting market early next year.
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) has set out to achieve five core strategic goals between 2025-2027, covering licensing, compliance and monitoring, enforcement, digital infrastructure and consumer protections.
With Ireland’s gambling landscape now governed by the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, operators are beginning to pay licensing fees under the new framework. The GRAI hopes to be entirely self-sufficient upon these fees, and other regulatory charges, by 2027.
“The Statement of Strategy outlines the vision, mission, and values of the Regulator through to 2027,” said Anne Marie Caulfield, CEO of the GRAI.
“Each goal within the strategy outlines a thorough approach to our main functions, from building a robust licensing regime that will ensure operators are consistently adhering to standards to supporting research and educational initiatives that enhance our capabilities as a regulator.”
Ireland’s regulator gets to work
The creation of the GRAI is one of the flagship measures of the Gambling Regulation Act, approved by the Oireachtas legislature and President Michael D Higgins last year and established on a statutory basis in March this year. The Act was a much needed update to the Republic of Ireland’s gambling laws dating back to 1931 and 1956.
The GRAI began to take on regulatory duties in March also, and will take full control of the market early next year. The regulator has set itself the objective of developing an efficient licensing regime for both retail and online betting, gaming and lotteries, covering both B2C and B2B operations.
It has also pledged to create a strong compliance regime, with annual inspections and monitoring to begin in July 2026. Related to this is its third goal, the development of a solid enforcement framework including an investigations unit and a crime and criminal enforcement unit.
The regulator wants to get these enforcement divisions established by Q3 2026. Any penalties or fines that will result from this, in cases of licensing infractions, will complement licensing fees in working towards the GRAI’s self-sustainability goal.
Its final goals relate to consumer protections, particularly with the context of Ireland’s now highly digitalised gambling industry – the development of which was a key motivation for the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition government’s introduction of the Gambling Regulation Bill back in 2022 to modernise gambling regulations.
In line with the growth of Irish digital gambling – the size of the Irish online gambling market has been estimated at around €1.25bn in 2024 – the GRAI has been tasked with developing a National Gambling Exclusion Register which can cover both online and offline betting under the Act. It has also set out to develop a separate dedicated IT strategy.
Similarly, as expected the GRAI’s 2025-27 strategy also includes development of the Social Impact Fund (SMF) – along with the creation of the GRAI itself, the abovementioned self-exclusion register, the SMF is one of the flagship measures of the Gambling Regulation Act.
The fund will be paid into by operators through an annual levy, with funds directed towards gambling addiction treatment, funding of public education, and raising awareness of problem gambling.
With overall Irish gambling revenue projected to exceed far above €2bn in 2025, the GRAI has a big job on its hands as the industry’s societal impact continues to face public, political and academic scrutiny.
The industry, as in its neighbour in the UK, has been facing pressure around marketing and advertising, with some prominent figures from within it such as the original founders of Paddy Power having called for drastic reductions in advertising.
The government is also now evaluating whether to apply new taxes to betting as part of a wider review of how hospitality sector taxes as well as expanding the reach of pool betting duty in line with the expansion of the regulated market.
Paul Quinn, Chairperson of the GRAI, said: “As a newly established independent regulator, we have been entrusted with a vital public mandate: to ensure that gambling in Ireland is conducted in a safe, fair, and transparent manner, with the interests of individuals, families, and the wider community at its heart.
“Our work is grounded in the principles of prevention, protection, and evidence-based regulation. This Statement of Strategy sets out the roadmap to delivering a modern, fair, and trusted regulatory regime that reflects the constantly evolving nature of gambling and the expectations of the Irish public.
“Establishing the new licensing arrangements, compliance management, and enforcement functions during the term of this Strategy is central to reducing the likelihood of gambling harms and will underpin a well-regulated gambling market in Ireland.”