Gambling Regulation Act 2024
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Interpretation | ||
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2. (1) In this Act— | ||
“account-holder” means a person who holds a gambling account; | ||
“Act of 1929” means the Totalisator Act 1929 ; | ||
“Act of 1931” means the Betting Act 1931 ; | ||
“Act of 1956” means the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 ; | ||
“Act of 1958” means the Greyhound Industry Act 1958 ; | ||
“Act of 1975” means the Finance Act 1975 ; | ||
“Act of 1994” means the Irish Horseracing Industry Act 1994 ; | ||
“Act of 1997” means the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 ; | ||
“Act of 2001” means the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001 ; | ||
“Act of 2002” means the Finance Act 2002 ; | ||
“Act of 2010” means the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 ; | ||
“Act of 2013” means the National Lottery Act 2013 ; | ||
“Act of 2014” means the Companies Act 2014 ; | ||
“Act of 2018” means the Data Protection Act 2018 ; | ||
“adjudication officer” has, subject to section 199 (2), the meaning assigned to it by section 216 (1) and a reference to an adjudication officer, other than in section 62 (3), includes a reference to the chief adjudication officer; | ||
“advertise” includes advertise by means of an image, sound or text; | ||
“Appeals Board” means a Board appointed under section 225 (4)(b) to hear an appeal; | ||
“appeals officer” means a member of the Appeals Panel appointed under section 225 (4)(a) to determine an appeal under Part 9; | ||
“Appeals Panel” shall be construed in accordance with section 224 ; | ||
“authorised officer” means an authorised officer appointed under section 184 ; | ||
“Authority” has the meaning assigned to it by section 13 (1); | ||
“beneficial owner” has the meaning given to it by Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 20152 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No. 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC; | ||
“bet” means a payment made to participate in betting; | ||
“betting” includes pool betting; | ||
“betting licence” means— | ||
(a) an in-person betting licence, | ||
(b) a remote betting licence, | ||
(c) an in-person and remote betting licence, or | ||
(d) a remote betting intermediary licence; | ||
“Business to Business gambling licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 89 ; | ||
“Business to Consumer gambling licence” means a betting licence, a gaming licence or a lottery licence; | ||
“charitable or philanthropic purpose” shall be construed in accordance with section 88 (4); | ||
“chief adjudication officer” means the adjudication officer appointed by the Minister under section 216 (3) to be the chief adjudication officer; | ||
“chief executive” has the meaning assigned to it by section 21 (1); | ||
“child” means a person under the age of 18 years; | ||
“committee” means a committee of the Authority established under section 20 ; | ||
“Data Protection Regulation” means Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation); | ||
“directed investigation” has the meaning assigned to it by section 195 (1); | ||
“director”, in relation to a body corporate, includes— | ||
(a) a person occupying the position of director, by whatever name called, | ||
(b) a person who effectively directs or has a material influence over the business of the body corporate, | ||
(c) a person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the directors of the body corporate are accustomed to act, unless the directors are accustomed so to act by reason only that they do so on advice given by the person in a professional capacity, and | ||
(d) where the affairs of the body corporate are managed by its members, any of the members who perform or exercise the functions of such management; | ||
“enactment” has the same meaning as it has in the Interpretation Act 2005 ; | ||
“gambling” means, whether in-person or by remote means, betting, gaming or participating in a lottery; | ||
“gambling account” means an account held by a person with a licensee of a remote gambling licence— | ||
(a) where money is lodged with that licensee for the purposes of making a relevant payment to the licensee in respect of relevant gambling activities by remote means, | ||
(b) to enable the person to make relevant payments to the licensee, | ||
(c) to hold winnings (if any), and | ||
(d) that enables the person to view the balance, relevant payments made and winnings received; | ||
“gambling activity” means— | ||
(a) providing a betting activity, a game or a lottery, or | ||
(b) selling or supplying, or offering to sell or supply, a gambling product or a gambling related service; | ||
“gambling licence” means— | ||
(a) a Business to Consumer gambling licence, | ||
(b) a gambling licence for a charitable or philanthropic purpose, or | ||
(c) a Business to Business gambling licence; | ||
“gambling licence for a charitable or philanthropic purpose” has the meaning assigned to it by section 88 (1); | ||
“gambling product” means any machine (including a gaming machine), equipment or software used, constructed or adapted for or in connection with gambling; | ||
“gambling related service” means any service provided, directly or indirectly, in the course of business which relates to a gambling activity or a gambling product, or is ancillary to a gambling activity or a gambling product and includes providing, for the operation of a gambling activity— | ||
(a) odds to licensees, | ||
(b) online hosting services, | ||
(c) support and maintenance which is indispensable to its operation, | ||
(d) risk management services, | ||
(e) fraud management services, | ||
(f) services to implement measures to protect and safeguard participants, | ||
(g) the installation, maintenance or upgrading of software, and | ||
(h) any other service the Authority prescribes; | ||
“game” means a game— | ||
(a) of skill or chance, or partly of skill and partly of chance, and | ||
(b) where a participant in the game may, having made a payment, win a prize of money or money’s worth; | ||
“gaming” means providing a game or participating in a game; | ||
“gaming licence” means— | ||
(a) an in-person gaming licence, | ||
(b) a remote gaming licence, or | ||
(c) an in-person and remote gaming licence; | ||
“gaming machine” means— | ||
(a) a machine manufactured or adapted for the purpose of allowing a person to participate, upon the making of a payment, in a gambling activity, and | ||
(b) where the outcome of that gambling activity is determined either by the action of the machine or by manipulation of the machine by the person, or both, | ||
but does not include a machine that is an amusement machine within the meaning of section 120 (2) of the Finance Act 1992 ; | ||
“in-person betting licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 85 (1)(a); | ||
“in-person gambling licence” means a Business to Consumer gambling licence which authorises a licensee to provide a relevant gambling activity from one or more premises in the State whether or not the licence concerned also authorises the licensee to provide the activity by remote means; | ||
“in-person gaming licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 86 (3)(a); | ||
“in-person lottery licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87 (3)(a); | ||
“in-person and remote betting licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 85 (1)(c); | ||
“in-person and remote gaming licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 86 (3)(c); | ||
“in-person and remote lottery licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87 (3)(c); | ||
“internet service provider” means a person who provides an internet access service to subscribers to the service; | ||
“licensee” means, subject to subsection (6), a person who is the holder of a gambling licence which is, for the time being, in force; | ||
“local authority” has the same meaning as it has in the Local Government Act 2001; | ||
“lottery” means— | ||
(a) a product purchased or an activity engaged in by a person on the payment of money by the person, and | ||
(b) in return for which payment he or she obtains an opportunity to win a prize of money or money’s worth, | ||
and includes bingo, a raffle and an activity involving a guess or estimate of future events the results of which are not yet ascertained or of past events the results of which are not generally known but does not include— | ||
(i) an additional service that may be provided by a credit union in accordance with section 48 of the Credit Union Act 1997 , | ||
(ii) non-interest-bearing securities (known as prize bonds) created and issued by the Minister for Finance under section 22 of the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1956 or by the National Treasury Management Agency while the functions of that Minister under that section stand delegated to that Agency under section 5 of the National Treasury Management Agency Act 1990 , | ||
(iii) a financial instrument that is analogous to non-interest-bearing securities referred to in paragraph (ii) created and issued by a Member State other than the State, a regional authority in that other Member State or local authority of that other Member State in relation to which chance may be used to select particular securities for prizes, | ||
(iv) a lottery operated by an operator of the National Lottery, or | ||
(v) a lottery operated by a political party under Part 9 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 ; | ||
“lottery licence” means— | ||
(a) an in-person lottery licence, | ||
(b) a remote lottery licence, or | ||
(c) an in-person and remote lottery licence; | ||
“marketing” means, in relation to a product, a service or a gambling activity, any form of commercial communication that is intended to increase or has the effect of increasing, the recognition, appeal or consumption of the product, service or gambling activity; | ||
“Minister” means the Minister for Justice; | ||
“National Gambling Exclusion Register” shall be construed in accordance with section 45 (1); | ||
“notice of non-compliance” has the meaning assigned to it by section 193 (1); | ||
“occupier” means, in relation to premises, a person, other than the owner, who is in or is entitled to be in lawful possession of the premises; | ||
“operator of the National Lottery” means— | ||
(a) the person operating the National Lottery (within the meaning of the Act of 2013)— | ||
(i) under a licence granted under section 26 of the Act of 2013, or | ||
(ii) where no such licence is in force, under section 10 of that Act, | ||
and | ||
(b) a person that is the holder of an authorisation under section 42 of the Act of 2013; | ||
“owner” means, in relation to premises, a person who holds the highest freehold or leasehold estate or interest in the premises; | ||
“participant” means, other than in sections 19 (2) and 211 (14) and subject to subsection (3), a person participating in a relevant gambling activity on a premises in the State or by remote means; | ||
“personal data” has the same meaning as it has in the Data Protection Regulation; | ||
“pool betting” shall be construed in accordance with subsection (2); | ||
“prescribe” means prescribe by regulations; | ||
“provider of an online application store service” means a person who provides a service the main purpose of which is to facilitate the download of, or access to, application software at endpoints of the internet; | ||
“providing a betting activity” shall be construed in accordance with section 3 ; | ||
“providing a game” shall be construed in accordance with section 4 ; | ||
“providing a lottery” shall be construed in accordance with section 5 ; | ||
“record” includes any memorandum, book, report, statement, register, plan, chart, map, drawing, specification, diagram, pictorial or graphic work or other document, any photograph, film or recording (whether of sound or images or both), any form in which data are held, any form (including machine-readable form) or thing in which information is held or stored manually, mechanically or electronically and anything that is a part or copy, in any form, of any of, or any combination of, the foregoing; | ||
“register of gambling licensees” shall be construed in accordance with section 90 ; | ||
“registration number” has the meaning assigned to it by section 107 (1)(b); | ||
“regulated financial service provider” means an undertaking that is permitted to conduct activities as a regulated financial service provider within the meaning of section 2 of the Central Bank Act 1942 ; | ||
“relevant betting activity” means, subject to subsection (5), a betting activity which a licensee is authorised, in accordance with section 85 , to provide under a betting licence; | ||
“relevant funds” has the meaning assigned to it in section 135 (2); | ||
“relevant gambling activity for a charitable or philanthropic purpose” has, subject to subsection (5), the meaning assigned to it by section 88 (1); | ||
“relevant gambling product or relevant gambling related service” has, subject to subsection (5), the meaning assigned to it by section 89 (1)(a); | ||
“relevant gambling activity” means— | ||
(a) a relevant betting activity, | ||
(b) a relevant game, | ||
(c) a relevant lottery, or | ||
(d) a relevant gambling activity for a charitable or philanthropic purpose; | ||
“relevant game” has, subject to subsection (5), the meaning assigned to it by section 86 (2); | ||
“relevant lottery” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87 (2); | ||
“relevant obligation” means— | ||
(a) a condition attaching to a gambling licence under Chapter 9 of Part 5 or imposed on a gambling licence under Part 8 , or | ||
(b) an obligation (however described) imposed on a licensee under this Act or any regulations made under this Act; | ||
“relevant offence” means an offence set out in Schedule 1 ; | ||
“relevant officer” means— | ||
(a) in relation to a body corporate— | ||
(i) a person who exercises control (within the meaning of section 11 or 432 of the Act of 1997) in relation to the body, | ||
(ii) a director, manager, secretary or other officer of the body, | ||
(iii) a member of the board (including the chairperson) of the body, | ||
(iv) the chief executive officer, managing director or any other person acting in such capacity (by whatever named called) of the body, | ||
(v) a person who purports to act in a capacity referred to in any of subparagraphs (ii) to (iv), | ||
and | ||
(b) in relation to a body corporate not established in the State, a person who— | ||
(i) holds an office or position equivalent to any office or position referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iv) of paragraph (a), or | ||
(ii) purports to act in a capacity of a person who holds such an office or position; | ||
“relevant payment” means— | ||
(a) a bet, | ||
(b) a payment made to participate in a game, or | ||
(c) subject to subsection (4), a payment made to participate in a lottery; | ||
“relevant premises” means— | ||
(a) a greyhound race track operated under a greyhound race track licence under the Act of 1958, | ||
(b) an authorised coursing ground and the precincts thereof at which authorised coursing meetings are held (each within the meaning of the Act of 1958), | ||
(c) an authorised racecourse (within the meaning of the Act of 1994), and | ||
(d) a place at which, in accordance with the Rules of Racing (within the meaning of the Act of 1994), a point-to-point steeplechase meeting is being held; | ||
“remote betting intermediary” means a person (in this definition referred to as an “intermediary”) who, in the course of business, provides a facility that enables another person to engage in betting with a person, other than the intermediary, by remote means; | ||
“remote betting intermediary licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 85 (1)(d); | ||
“remote betting licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 85 (1)(b); | ||
“remote gambling licence” means a Business to Consumer gambling licence that authorises the licensee to provide a relevant gambling activity by remote means; | ||
“remote gaming licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 86 (3)(b); | ||
“remote lottery licence” has the meaning assigned to it by section 87 (3)(b); | ||
“remote means” means any means by which a person can participate in gambling otherwise than in-person including by using— | ||
(a) the internet, | ||
(b) a telephone, or | ||
(c) a television; | ||
“Segregated Customer Account” has the meaning assigned to it by section 135 (1); | ||
“special categories of personal data” has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2018; | ||
“Social Impact Fund” shall be construed in accordance with section 50 ; | ||
“turnover” means— | ||
(a) in the case of a licensee of a Business to Business gambling licence, the gross profit on the sale or supply of relevant gambling products or relevant gambling related services, | ||
(b) in the case of a licensee of a remote betting intermediary licence, the total amount paid in charges to the licensee for providing the facility that enables a person to engage in betting, and | ||
(c) in the case of any other licensee, the licensee’s total income from relevant gambling activities less the total amount paid out in winnings for those activities; | ||
“winnings” means the money or money’s worth paid out to a person who wins at betting, wins a game or wins in a lottery, as the case may be. | ||
(2) For the purposes of this Act, betting is pool betting if made on terms that all or part of the winnings are— | ||
(a) determined by reference to the aggregate of bets made in respect of an event, and | ||
(b) divided— | ||
(i) among the persons who make a bet and select the correct outcome in respect of an event, and | ||
(ii) in proportion to the amount of that bet. | ||
(3) A reference in the definition of “participant” to a person participating in a relevant gambling activity on a premises in the State includes, in the case of a relevant gambling activity for a charitable or philanthropic purpose, a reference to a person participating in that activity off a premises. | ||
(4) A reference to a payment made to participate in a lottery in paragraph (c) of the definition of “relevant payment” includes, in the case of bingo, a reference to a payment made to purchase a ticket, or a book of tickets where the tickets in the book cannot be sold separately, to participate in bingo. | ||
(5) A reference in this Act to a relevant betting activity, a relevant game, a relevant lottery, a relevant gambling activity for a charitable or philanthropic purpose or a relevant gambling product or a relevant gambling related service is a reference to such activity, game, lottery, product or service as varied under section 117 , 122 or 128 , or on appeal under section 225 (12), as the case may be. | ||
(6) Subject to subsection (7), a reference in the definition of “licensee” to a gambling licence which is, for the time being, in force includes a reference to a licensee of a gambling licence which would, but for a period of suspension imposed under section 81 or Part 8 in respect of the gambling licence concerned, be in force. | ||
(7) A licensee whose gambling licence is, by virtue of the application of subsection (6), in force (notwithstanding that the licence stands suspended) shall not be a licensee for the purposes of providing a relevant gambling activity during the period of any such suspension. | ||