Over Christmas about 60,000 punters are expected to throng Leopardstown in south Dublin for the traditional festive-season horse-racing festival.
Many will be there just to enjoy the sport and most will have a flutter, with several million euro likely to change hands between bookmakers and punters over the four days.
But it may be the last year in which long-standing rules surrounding gambling are in force, with a whole new set of regulations due to come into effect.
After years of planning and discussion, landmark new legislation to regulate gambling was finally passed by the Oireachtas in October.
Minister of State at the Department of Justice James Browne, the driving force behind the new legislation, told the Dáil two years ago that the industry in Ireland was valued at more than €6 billion annually.
On the other side of the coin was the very significant issue of problem gambling in Ireland. Last year Tánaiste Micheál Martin described gambling addiction as a “serious public health issue”.
The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), the State think tank, has estimated there were about 130,000 problem gamblers.
But gambling does not only involve the big players in the bookmaking industry. The finances of many charities and sports clubs rely on local lotteries and draws.
It is unsurprising then that there was considerable interest in the legislation. Browne said he had experienced “endless” lobbying from the racing, betting and gambling industries.
The Irish Times reported in August that by that stage there had been 61 listings of lobbying activity to politicians, officials and Ministers. About half of those were made by charities and sports clubs.
There were numerous letters, emails and representations to senior politicians including then taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin, his top adviser Deirdre Gillane, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Simon Harris, when he served in an acting role at the Department of Justice, as well as to the Minister responsible for the legislation, Browne himself.
Records released under the Freedom of Information Act show that correspondence did not just come from the big companies in the gambling sector – although they made a significant number of representations.
Credit unions, for example, wanted to discuss with the Department of Justice how their car and cash draws would stand under the new legislation.
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A key issue for the Government was gambling advertising. Some Opposition politicians wanted a full-scale ban, but the Government argued that gambling advertising should be regulated, not prohibited.
Browne proposed a “watershed” with a ban on gambling advertising on television, radio and on audiovisual media between 5.30am and 9.00pm, designed to protect children.
However, in Ireland virtually all race meetings take place in daylight and broadcasters were concerned at what it would mean for live coverage and for gambling advertisements during commercial breaks.
Virgin Media met Browne in March this year. The company said its service broadcasts 55 days of racing annually and that its feed comes directly from the UK. It pointed to its reliance on commercial activities to support its service, including advertising and sponsorship revenue from bookmakers.
The broadcaster wanted to know what would happen to television coverage where jockeys were filmed wearing a betting company logo or if there were gambling advertisements on trackside hoardings.
Virgin wrote to McEntee the previous June setting out its concerns, arguing that the pre-watershed restrictions on gambling advertisements presented the broadcaster “with obvious operational challenges that could in effect limit or remove our ability to broadcast racing content”.
“It is our view that the ability for a commercial public-service broadcaster to continue to show horse-racing content without advertising content from gambling companies will come under significant pressure,” it said.
Virgin sought clarity on whether the provision of “tipping”, the presentation of betting odds or interviews with bookmakers would fit in with a proposed ban on inducements to gambling.
Browne said that, on incidental advertising, “anything that could be seen during a horse race on television at present such as sponsorships on jerseys or on trackside hoarding will be permissible during the watershed”.
But it is not only mainstream television that covers horse racing.
There are dedicated subscription broadcasters which cover the sport and feature advertising from the gambling industry. They have also paid considerable sums for broadcasting rights.
One such outlet, Racing TV, said it was “simply not economically viable” for it to create a separate channel for Ireland with bookmaker advertising removed.
But it was not only television broadcasters that had concerns.
The Independent Broadcasters of Ireland wrote to the Department of Justice in June regarding radio bingo.
Two months earlier in April, Bauer Media which owns Newstalk, Off the Ball, Spin, 98FM and Today FM told Browne in a letter copied to McEntee that it was worried about the implications for listener competitions to win cash and non-cash prizes.
“Our principal concern is that, on its current terms, the Bill may significantly limit the ability of Bauer and other broadcasters to run ‘listener competitions’ in a commercially viable manner,” the company said.
It argued that these did not cause harm.
The broadcaster raised concerns about the watershed arguing that the limit on times at which gambling advertising could be run on radio was “too broad”.
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The previous month public-relations company Q4 wrote to the Department of Justice seeking to arrange for the chief executive of Bauer Media Audio Ireland to brief Browne.
One of the most extensive lobbying campaigns around the legislation came from the Irish Bookmakers’ Association, which represents virtually all betting shops in the country, including some of the main online operators such as Flutter (Paddy Power), Entain (Ladbrokes) and Boylesports.
It wrote to McEntee, Harris and Donohoe at various points.
In November last year it told McEntee it had concerns about proposals governing advertising and the ambiguity over the term “inducement” which, it feared, could have draconian and unintended effects.
The representative body also raised concerns about black-market gambling.
“It is not uncommon in Ireland to walk into a pub which provides customers with an opportunity to place a bet. Online too, there are many options for customers to seek out black-market operators,” it said.
“Our concerns are not about fair and effective regulation, nor customer controls based upon evidence and designed to protect customers, but about over-regulation or poorly-constructed regulation which ultimately serves to enhance the appeal of black-market operators and drive customers to them.”
Individual companies made representations too. In July 2023 Boylesports went over Browne’s head and approached Martin to express concern that issues raised with the Minister and his officials had not been addressed. These included limits on the amounts that could be placed on a game or won.
“We believe this is too prescriptive, could pose an anticompetitive issue and should be left to the regulator to set rather than being included in primary legislation,” the betting company said.
Flutter, the parent of the Paddy Power company, made a number of representations and had several meetings with the Browne and his officials.
In April it said it was a strong supporter of the proposed legislation but remained “deeply concerned about the unintended consequences of three specific measures in the draft Bill: proposed restrictions on [gambling] inducements, stake and win limits, and a pre-watershed ban on advertising”.
It warned that restrictions on inducements along with the stake and win limits would “impact and frustrate 400,000 low-risk Irish players”. It feared that punters could be driven to the “unsafe black market”.
In mid-October the Gambling Regulation Bill completed its 20-month passage through the Oireachtas but it could be 12 months before the provisions of the legislation are formally commenced.
The Government believes that although it made some compromises, the final legislation reflected the principles it had originally set out.
Browne told The Irish Times that some people had maintained that he was a bit “uncompromising” during the legislative process, but in light of the seriousness of gambling addiction in Ireland and the tsunami of associated problems that were coming down the line, he said he had to hold the line.
“And I think I was right to do that.”
What is the new Gambling Regulation Bill and how will the rules work?
New legislation will bring the rules surrounding gambling in Ireland from the black-and-white television era to the digital age, Minister of State at the Department of Justice James Browne has said.
He told The Irish Times that in bringing his gambling regulation bill through the Oireachtas over the last two years there had been “an extraordinary amount of lobbying” from the industry and from other sectors.
“Every letter pretty much began that we commend you on the work you are doing and it is really important, but it should not apply to us,” he said.
Previous gambling legislation was hopelessly outdated, going back to the 1930s and 1950s, he said.
“We have gone from gambling being pretty much something for men in their 30s, 40s, 50s down in the local bookies to the vast majority of gambling taking place online,” he said.
“There is instant access to gambling and there is wall-to-wall advertising. The evidence would suggest that the nature of those who are gambling is changing.”
The new legislation will lead to the establishment of a new, independent statutory body – Údarás Rialála Cearrbhachais na hÉireann, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland – and for a new licensing and regulatory framework for both in-person and online gambling.
It will see the creation of a social impact fund to support awareness and to support problem gambling awareness as well as treatment.
The legislation contains measures to address illegal or criminal gambling activity and includes explicit prohibitions on illegal activity or practices, some of which could result in significant jail sentences.
The Minister said the legislation does not ban advertisements for horse racing, but rather prohibits adverts for “hard gambling such as casinos or poker “.
There had been calls for the rules not to apply to specialist subscription racing television stations, but Browne said one broadcaster could not be treated differently from another.
There were many exemptions for the horse-racing industry in the legislation, he said.
“You will be able to withdraw cash at a racetrack. You will be able to have children at a racetrack provided they are not involved in gambling.”
He said betting companies can advertise special odds as long as they available to everyone but they cannot be targeted at any group.
The Minister said the new regulator would clarify the rules for radio competitions that offered prizes.
Local charities and sporting clubs will be covered by the legislation but will have some exemptions, he said; they will have to receive authorisation for draws from the regulator. He said it was important that someone could not set up a charity to facilitate gambling. Limits on stakes and prizes will not change, he said.
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