Ireland minister signs into action a new gambling regulatory authority

Ireland will begin a ‘new era’ in gambling as a Gambling Regulatory Authority has been created.

On Tuesday (March 4) the Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, signed the order to commence parts of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 which allows the authority to become operational.

This independent watchdog will be responsible for licensing bookmakers, casinos, and helping to tackle addiction. It will also be in charge of making sure gambling companies in the country have the relevant licenses and are following the new laws.

The appointment of seven people was approved too, with the members appointed to start fulfilling their roles and responsibilities from today (March 5).

Minister O’Callaghan said in a press release: “Today marks a new era for the regulation of gambling in the Irish State.

“The establishment of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland is a further step towards replacing Ireland’s outdated gambling laws with a streamlined and simplified licensing framework, which will reflect the nature of modern gambling and take into account the harms associated with problem gambling, providing safeguards to protect people from those harms, especially children.”

The new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland was formally established today by Minister @OCallaghanJim

Read more belowhttps://t.co/0TM1pyzu4W pic.twitter.com/3rriWmxgWR

— Department of Justice (@DeptJusticeIRL) March 4, 2025

The aim is for the new framework to provide clarity for operators and consumers, while bringing in safeguards to protect people.

As part of those measures, the authority website lists a new National Gambling Exclusion Register which will be separate to any exclusion schemes operated by gambling bodies.

This will allow people to join a register online to exclude themselves from gambling with operators that are licensed by the watchdog.

Speaking further on the regulatory authority, the Minister says: “It is designed to meet the challenges of gambling responsibly in 21st century Ireland, providing clarity for operators and for consumers and taking a responsible approach to balancing the freedom to gamble with the safeguards to protect people from falling prey to addiction.”

Now that the new members have been appointed, the operations and legislative powers can begin on a phased basis. The priority includes working on progressing the licensing process, with a view to invite applications for some license types within the coming year.

Featured Image: Credit to LenDog64 on Flickr

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