Ireland to regulate gambling with new national control office

The Republic of Ireland is considering significant changes to casino legislation, including potentially establishing a regulatory body to oversee gaming.

Ireland’s gambling laws are somewhat confusing, as the law tends to default to the outdated 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act. The Irish Examiner reports that the proposed bill would create a national gambling control office, as well as introducing advertising restrictions on some gambling services.

This does not prohibit gambling but it does make clear that gambling debts cannot be enforced in law – putting companies and punters at some risk. Despite this, gambling is popular in Ireland, especially horse racing betting and lottery play.

Recent figures from Gambling Aware suggest at least 40,000 people in Ireland have a gambling addiction, with €5bn spent on various gambling games in this country every year — €10,000 a minute.