Irish Govt pledges to pass gambling reforms by October

The Irish Government has emphasised that gambling restrictions will soon come into law despite “endless” lobbying from the betting industry.

Justice Minister James Browne, who introduced the Gambling Regulation Bill in 2022, announced that a final vote on the proposals should take place by October.

The legislation – currently under consideration by the Seanad – would establish a national regulator, create a social impact fund to address problem gambling, and ban advertising across on-demand services, television and radio between 5:30am and 9pm.

Gambling ads

Browne stated: “We are now on track to go back into Seanad Éireann around September 26th. The following week it will complete report and final stage in the Seanad and go back to the Dáil around October 8th”.

The Minister said that he has resisted “endless” pressure to weaken restrictions on advertising and stake limits for slot machines, but allowed amendments for charity lotteries.

Betting firms such as Flutter and Boylesports pushed politicians for such changes to the legislation, and Bauer Media and Virgin Media Ireland lobbied for fewer advertising restrictions.

Young adults

As part of a recent qualitative study, the Institute for Social Marketing and Health at the University of Stirling conducted one-to-one interviews with 16 young adult gamblers in Ireland.

One participant said: “Everywhere I can think of I think I’ve probably seen gambling adverts”.

Another commented: “You see it on football jerseys, all over sports websites, when you’re watching football, when you’re watching horse racing, the first ad after it all is Skybet or Paddy Power”.