Ireland's Newly Published Gambling Bill Includes Innovative Restrictions Ireland's Newly Published Gambling Bill Includes Innovative Restrictions
JuergenTrautmann, Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs License
Key Takeaways
  • Ireland publishes General Scheme of the Gambling Control Bill 2013.
  • The text is subject to amendment but is ultimately likely to become law.
  • Online operators will not be able to use celebrity endorsements and new customer incentive promotions will be strictly controlled.
  • Cheating becomes a criminal offence punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

Alan Shatter, Ireland’s Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, has published the General Scheme of the Gambling Control Bill 2013. The government has approved the draft and work will now start on creating the detailed wording of the bill.

The proposed law will introduce measures that require remote gaming operators to apply to the Minister for a licence under a process managed by the Office for Gambling Control Ireland (OGCI).

Several items in the text will be of particular interest to online operators.