The process of modernizing Ireland’s gambling laws won’t begin for another year, according to at least one highly placed source in the industry.
John Purcell, managing director of Purcell & Associates and a member of the Irish Responsible Gambling Board, said major questions still plague the country’s new gaming and betting bill and that spring 2015 is probably the earliest that legislators will consider it.
Announced by Minister for Justice Alan Shatter last year, the bill would repeal the country’s antiquated gaming laws. However, it remains merely a consultation paper at this stage with no force in law.
According to Purcell, the bill is still in the process of being drafted. Even if that was completed in the next few months, the legislative calendar is already filled, making it next to impossible to introduce it in 2014. A more optimistic timeline could see primary enabling legislation introduced in the Dáil by the end of the year, but Purcell noted that such a scenario would only take place in the event that something occurs necessitating emergency legislation.
If he is correct, and assuming the bill is approved, implementation is not likely to occur before early 2016.
