GRAI Consultation On Ireland's Next Gambling Rules Closes August 20
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) is consulting on three new regulations covering prescribed games, licensee record keeping and the information operators must give customers about their gambling activity, with submissions closing at 3pm on August 20, 2026.
What Happened
The consultation, which opened on July 30, is the next step in the phased rollout of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, following the GRAI's issuance of remote betting and betting intermediary licences on July 1.
It marks the first time the regulator has put draft rules for the sector's day-to-day obligations out for public comment, and it applies to operators already active in the Irish gambling and betting sites market as well as those preparing online casino applications ahead of 2027.
The first proposed regulation, under Section 86 of the Act, will set the list of games a gaming licensee is permitted to offer once gaming licences open for applications.
Each gaming licence will specify which of the prescribed games the operator is authorised to provide.
The GRAI says the list has been shaped by an earlier information-gathering survey it conducted with operators on prescribed games for both remote and in-person gaming.
The second, under Section 152, prescribes the records and accounts that licensees must keep and maintain electronically.
The GRAI says these have been drafted around the Act's existing obligations, international best practice, and the audit and inspection process carried out through licensees' quarterly returns.
What It Means
The third, under Section 173, sets out what remote gambling licensees must tell account holders, including how often operators must send alerts detailing wins, losses and time spent gambling, and how long customers must be able to access their gambling history.
The GRAI has also published practical guidance for operators on implementing these account alerts.
The consultation follows the licensing milestone reached on July 1, when the GRAI's first tranche of remote betting and betting intermediary licences came into force.
Licensed operators must now verify customers' ages, pay out winnings, close accounts on request and are barred from facilitating credit or accepting credit cards.
GRAI chief executive Anne Marie Caulfield said at the time that "consumers in Ireland have important new protections when they bet online or over the phone" and that the regulator's work "in identifying unlicensed operators" had already begun.
In-person betting licences are due to follow later in 2026, with applications for gaming, lottery, business-to-business and charitable licences opening through 2027 and 2028.
The prescribed games regulation, now out for consultation, is one of the pieces the GRAI needs in place before it can start processing gaming licence applications.
What's Next
The GRAI has invited submissions from stakeholders, operators, gambling support services, and the public, organised by section to align with each of the three proposed regulations.
It says it will "carefully consider the submissions made" before finalising the rules.
The consultation is a signal that record-keeping and account alert systems should be built to the proposed standard now, rather than retrofitted once the regulations are finalised.
Gambling.com will track the outcome of the consultation and the GRAI's next licensing phase in its Ireland gambling news coverage.
