Ireland is seeking a major overhaul of its gambling laws in order to better regulate the sector. Crucially, this is likely to pave the way for the legalisation of casinos.
In a consultation paper, Options for Regulating Gambling, Minister for Justice and Law Reform Dermot Ahern outlined proposals for a new regulatory framework. The industry presently falls under the 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Act and the 1931Betting Act. Although strictly speaking casinos are not permitted, a legal loophole allows them to operate as members’ clubs.
The report stated that any new legislation would overturn the existing policy towards gambling, which has its roots in the 19th century outlook that gambling is a vice. Citing the national lottery as an example, it noted that public feeling has generally moved beyond that.
A new regulatory act to repeal the existing laws would be necessary and ought to bring together each strand of gambling under a single system governed by the Department for Justice and Law Reform.
Bringing gaming legislation up to date is a key point made in the consultation paper, recognising the rate at which technology is developed within the industry and the type of new concepts, such as server-based gaming platforms, that are being introduced. Consequently, any new piece of legislation would license operators and manufacturers, as well as providing for technical standards for games and systems, and the testing of machines, games and systems.
Casinos, the report said, could also be permitted under new licensing arrangements. In fact, the impetus for change stems largely from the demand for different forms of gambling, particularly casino-style gaming. The growth of members’ clubs is considered to be proof of this.
If the government is prepared to license casinos, different categories of properties could be permitted, limiting their number and size. In essence, however, this effectively boils down to two categories - registered casinos of no more than 15 gaming tables and a fixed number of machines and resort casinos with as many as 1,500 gaming machines. The latter would allow for an operating licence of a fixed term, for example, of 15 years.
One such resort currently in the planning stages is a €460m casino, sports complex and entertainment destination earmarked for North Tipperary. Having recently been granted planning permission, the news that the law may be changed to accommodate for a casino of this size will no doubt be welcomed by developer Richard Quirke. However, the government report acknowledged opposition to such properties, noting that there remain question marks over their viability and impact.
"A licence to operate either a registered or a resort casino would not be acquired with any degree of ease," the report said. "It would only come about following a thorough and searching appraisal of the positives and negatives surrounding such a development. There must be significant and continuing benefits accruing locally or regionally as a result of the grant of a licence for a resort casino, as well as a return directly to the exchequer in terms of taxes. The highest standards of player protection would have to be maintained at all times. This means that such venues would not be permitted to be places of "drop-in" casual gambling. There could be no inducements, such as bussing of customers to the venue, permitted. A resort casino, in particular, would be a place where people typically make a conscious effort to visit, and consequently is a visit which is more likely to have been budgeted for and planned in advance."
Any new regulatory framework would be developed in tandem with a new system of taxation for gaming that may be based on a gambling tax levied at various progressive rates on gross gaming revenue.
"Our existing laws regulating gambling are not fit for purpose in this age of mass global communications," Ahern said. "It is my wish that gambling regulation should be brought into the 21st century and that means improved protection for minors and vulnerable adults, more transparent operations by gambling providers and more effective measures against fraud and illegal gambling and criminality."
