Údarás Rialála Cearrbhachais na hÉireann Established as Key Player in Irish Gambling Reform, Three Years On

20 October 2026

A major overhaul in Irish gambling regulation began to unfurl in Dáil Éireann three years ago, with the passing of the Gambling Regulation Act in October 2021. One of the key provisions established the Údarás Rialála Cearrbhachais na hÉireann, or GRAI, to license and regulate the betting, gaming, and lottery industries. It also introduced new limits to protect consumers, especially children, from exposure to gambling ads.

Under the Act, the GRAI gained powers to implement an extensive list of new compliance measures. Most significantly, it was tasked with licensing all gambling services in the country, allowing the regulator to oversee all operators. Licensees had to agree to restrictions on electronic communications, consenting to marketing only to customers who agreed to receive it. Dubbed the "Annexeline's Law" after the 12-year-old Deise girl who inspired the gambling restriction law, it also strengthened protections on how and when firms could contact recipients with gambling-related communications or advertisements.

The GRAI was tasked with creating a National Gambling Exclusion Register where at-risk or vulnerable individuals could insulate themselves from gambling ads. Operators, in turn, were legally obliged to consult this before any targeted marketing to identify and manage customer risk. The regulator was also ordered to triple the size of the existing Social Impact Fund and more than double the tax rates on machines and winnings for social services.

Electronic Advertising Restricted and Ad Blocking Power As New Ways to Enforce Consumer Rights

The focus on consumer protections underscored the regulator's advertising powers. Filing a question to the Dáil on this bill tended to ask about internet service, the blocking and payment of tools for unlicensed internet service providers as well. Blocking that function would include blocking advertising backed or assisted by an unlicensed internet site or service. In enforcing this aim, the Gambling Regulation Act 2021 equips the Authority to apply to the High Court for orders directing relevant service providers to block gambling advertising that breaches license obligations and consists of content digitally targeted against rules. According to the bill, applying electronic ads requires recipients' express and active consent, for example when messages push notifications to verify or auto-copy telephone numbers in contact lists.

In a previous Q&A, the government minister of justice went further, declaring how far they could go in blocking payments, advertising, and even the disposal of certain assets linked to unlicensed gambling providers. Indeed, under this act, the GRAI can seek administrative sanctions of up to 10% of a licensee’s turnover.

In effect, while the 2021 law was a major step, legislators acknowledged that blunting the reach of illegal operators remains an ongoing battle. Will the GRAI be able to consider sufficient laws and directives to regulate the operators, or will the illegal market offer better service and evade restrictions?

The Missing Rules on Crypto and Fast-Payouts

However, while a government position paper released to mark the bill's three year anniversary announced the upcoming establishment of a personal fund for problem gamblers and lenders, mentions of fast-payout rules or regulation of crypto casinos was absent.

Waiting on the Law Reform Commission's initial quarterly report in March 2024, stakeholders in defining these illegal gambling loopholes have three things to focus on in the meantime: adhering to the exclusion register, knowing their customer in answering GRAI regulations, and carefully understanding requirements in receiving consumer permissions for advertising. Just like for all the Irish gambling shop, lotto, and sports enterprises, the broader question is whether an enforceable way will be found to close loopholes exploited by illegal providers. Three years in, that may be the final barrier to the law's potential.