The Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 completed its passage through the Oireachtas on 16 October 2024. It was signed into law by the President on 23 October 2024 and will come into force once commenced by Government. The legislation serves to modernise and strengthen the licencing and regulation of gambling activities in Ireland. It has received a broadly positive reception across various sectors. However, in response to the original Bill, significant concerns were voiced on behalf of the charity sector. These concerns focused on the unintended impact of certain protective measures. Specifically, there were worries about how these measures might affect the ability of registered charities to fundraise through raffles, lotteries and other activities that may be classified as “gambling”, as defined under the Bill.
Key points for charities
In our previous update on the Bill, as first drafted, we provided an overview of the measures to be introduced by the new laws and licencing framework and the potential for impact on certain charitable fundraising activities.
Under the new framework, charities will be required to apply to the new gambling regulator, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), for a specific licence to carry out certain gaming or lottery activities, such as a bingo, raffle or prize-draw, as part of their fundraising initiatives. The requirement applies to activities where, amongst other things, the total value of winnings exceeds €2,000. The GRAI can grant a special category “Licence for a Charitable or Philanthropic Purpose”, which is intended to be a streamlined process to authorise the carrying out of certain gaming or lottery activities on a non-profit basis.
Sector perspective
The key policy objective driving the new laws is to introduce public health measures, which are aimed at safeguarding children, consumers, and individuals affected by problem gambling or addiction. These provisions include strict limitations around advertising, primarily aimed at commercial gambling operators. However, when the Bill was initially published in late 2022, it had been proposed that charities carrying out “gambling” activities as part of their fundraising efforts, should be subject to all aspects of the new advertising restrictions, in the same way as large betting companies. The original provisions of the Bill did not differentiate between categories of licence-holders. This would have meant that, once a charity or not-for-profit obtained a “Licence for a Charitable or Philanthropic Purpose”, it would have become subject to, and required to comply with, all of the onerous restrictions in the Bill.
During the legislative stages, there were calls for a blanket exemption to apply to registered charities, so that charitable fundraising activities would not be inhibited by the new laws. However, Minister of State James Browne confirmed that there would be no blanket exemption for charities, commenting that:
“the policy underpinning the Bill is to regulate gambling in the State, with an emphasis on ensuring that there are public health protection measures to protect vulnerable gamblers. All gambling is to be regulated through the Bill, and that includes games run by charities and sporting organisations under the advertising piece. A number of other amendments have been included to acknowledge the distinction between charities, sporting organisations and other philanthropic organisations and other types of gambling operators”.
Therefore, charities whose fundraising activities fall within the definitions will still be impacted by the new regulation. However, following strong advocacy on behalf of the charitable, non-profit and sporting sectors, amendments to the original Bill have carved out certain key exemptions, targeted at non-profit fundraising activities.
In the final version of the Bill, organisations that obtain the special category “Licence for a Charitable or Philanthropic Purpose” from the GRAI, will be exempted from some of the strict advertising restrictions, which will be brought into effect for other commercial gambling operators.
Exemptions for charitable activities
We summarise some of the restrictions below which will now not apply to holders of a gambling licence for a “Charitable or Philanthropic purpose”:
- A ban on advertising a gambling activity on tv, radio or on-demand media between the hours of 5:30am – 9pm.
- An outright ban on advertising through social media or video-sharing platforms, unless the targeted recipient has subscribed and specifically opted in to receiving gambling related advertising from that sender.
- Prohibitions on producing or distributing any merchandise with the licence-holder’s logo or branding at an event at which children might be present, or that might be used or worn by a child.
In addition, a proposed provision which would have required charitable licence-holders to supply detailed information on the IT systems that they use to provide “gambling” activities, has now been removed, under the final version of the Bill.
Compliance requirements – notifications to the GRAI
However, no exemption has been made for charities in respect of new requirements to notify the GRAI of “material events” which occur during the period in which a gambling licence is in force. This means that licence-holding charities will be required to notify the GRAI within 7 days of any “material events” within the charity, including any change to the charity trustees, a change to the organisation’s address, or a change in financial circumstances which could impact on its ability either to carry out or to fund the winnings of the “gambling” activities which have been permitted under its licence.
Charities should take note that the legislation also empowers the GRAI to pass regulations concerning the advertising of gambling activities, including restricting the content and subject matter of such ads, and the times, places and events at which the ads may be shown.
Charities who carry out “gambling activities” as part of their fundraising efforts will be included within the scope of these regulations. Therefore, charity trustees and staff should be sure to keep updated about further regulations which may come into force, once the GRAI is up and running.
When will the new laws come into force?
The Bill was passed by Dáil Eireann and was signed into law by the President on 23 October 2024. However, the new laws will not yet come into force, until commenced by Government.
What does this mean for charities?
Charities engaged in fundraising should be prepared to review their activities to ensure they have clarity on whether any of those fundraising activities fall within the remit of the Bill and the definition of “gambling”. Affected charities will need to ensure that they are conversant and fully compliant with the new laws and licencing framework, once in force. Our team will be tracking closely as the new laws are implemented, and are on hand to provide guidance and assistance to charities operating in this space.
For more information on how the new regime may affect your fundraising operations following enactment, contact a member of our Charity Law and Not-for-Profit team.
The content of this article is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal or other advice.
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