Gambling analysts fear that the new, long-anticipated Gambling Regulation Bill 2022 could flood Irish courts with legal challenges and inadvertently encourage black market gambling, the Irish Times reported July 8.
The bill includes online and in-person gaming, and gives the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland—which would be created by the bill itself— the ability to control advertising, gaming websites and apps. The bill continues to work its way through the legislative committee of the Dáil, Ireland’s parliament.
The bill was analyzed by U.K.-based Regulus Partners, an advisory firm that concentrates on sports and leisure. It identified “serious drafting issues” that have invited numerous court challenges in other members of the E.U. It cites the experience of 13 European nations whose gambling bills now have more than 100 actions pending, and “accelerating.”
Per the Times, the firm told clients, “Without clear wording at the legislative level, key policies which should in theory be delivered by lawmakers are more likely to be shaped by the outcome of legal challenges.” It added that the bill is too ambiguous, leaving much to the interpretation of the Authority.
Regulus uses as an example that although the bill does not appear to propose a “near blanket electronic advertising ban,” the language leaves unclear what is proposed. It declared, “In a decade’s time, the drafting is likely to look extremely archaic, in our view, meaning it is not fit for purpose now.”
Per the Times, it also points out a lack of clarity in sections related to gambling inducements: “It is reasonable to assume that if existing customers suddenly stopped receiving the inducements that they had become used to, they would use the internet to start looking for them. In other words, that aspect of the Bill is an invitation for both existing and new customers to seek out the black market.” It said a lack of clarity could be “very dangerous.”
Minister of State for Law Reform James Browne, speaking in the Dáil last week, said one of the most important goals of the bill was to “protect children and vulnerable people from the harms associated with gambling.”
