Online gambling in Ireland: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Ireland?

Ireland is replacing a patchwork of laws from 1931 and 1956 with one regime under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. The GRAI opened its licensing portal on 9 February 2026 for remote betting, remote betting intermediary and in-person betting licences, and the first GRAI remote betting licences took effect on 1 July 2026 as the old Revenue Commissioners licences expired. Gaming (online casino), lottery, B2B and charitable licences will be opened in phases through 2027 and 2028, so there is still no Irish licence for online casino. Betting duty stays at 2% of stakes, credit cards are banned, and several consumer-protection chapters of the Act, including advertising restrictions and the national exclusion register, had not yet been commenced as of September 2026.

Partially regulated: Some verticals are licensed (usually betting); others are prohibited or unaddressed.

Who regulates gambling in Ireland?

• Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (Údarás Rialála Cearrbhachais na hÉireann) (GRAI) — Licenses, supervises and enforces all commercial gambling under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024; administers the Social Impact Fund and, once commenced, the National Gambling Exclusion Register
• Office of the Revenue Commissioners (Revenue) — Collects betting duty and betting intermediary duty; issued bookmaker licences until responsibility passed to the GRAI in February 2026
• Regulator of the National Lottery — Oversees the National Lottery licence, which sits outside the GRAI regime

Ireland gambling licence: how it works

Licences are applied for through the GRAI Operator Portal. Since 9 February 2026 the GRAI accepts applications for remote betting licences (online and telephone), remote betting intermediary licences and in-person betting licences. Applicants file a notice of intent, then a full application covering beneficial owners, relevant officers, financial capacity, evidence that winnings will be paid from lawful funds, and responsible-gambling and AML policies. Remote operators that held Revenue licences had to transition by 1 July 2026, in-person bookmakers by 1 December 2026. Applications for gaming (including online casino), lottery, B2B and charitable licences are to open across 2027 and 2028, so no Irish online casino licence exists yet.

What an applicant needs

• Company or individual passing the GRAI's fit-and-proper test, with beneficial owners and relevant officers disclosed
• Proof of financial capacity to provide the gambling activity and to pay winnings from lawful funds
• Notice of intent followed by a complete portal application with all supporting documents
• Age verification, account-closure and payout procedures meeting the commenced obligations of the 2024 Act
• No credit-card acceptance and no provision of credit to players
• Regulatory submissions through the GRAI portal, including suspicious gambling transaction reports

Gambling taxes in Ireland

• Operators: Betting duty of 2% of the amount of every bet placed with persons in the State, whether over the counter or remotely; betting intermediary duty of 25% of commission charged to persons in the State. Duties are collected by Revenue and reviewed each Budget. Corporation tax of 12.5% on trading profits.
• Players: None. Winnings are not taxed.
• Also: The 2024 Act creates a Social Impact Fund financed by mandatory operator contributions; the enabling provisions commenced on 30 June 2026 but the contribution rate had not been published. No gaming duty exists yet for online casino because the licence category has not opened.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Part 4 of the 2024 Act (sections 139 to 165) bans advertising that appeals to children, imposes a broadcast watershed between 5.30am and 9pm, requires opt-in for gambling advertising on social media and restricts inducements such as deposit-linked free bets. As of September 2026 Part 4 had not been commenced, so advertising is still governed by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland code; operators should plan for commencement without a fixed date.

Responsible gaming

GRAI licensees must verify age, close accounts on request, pay out winnings and may not extend credit or accept credit cards. The National Gambling Exclusion Register (sections 44 to 49) had not been commenced as of September 2026, so self-exclusion is operator-level for now. Sanctions for breaches run to €20 million or 10% of turnover.

Identity and age verification

Age and identity verification before a person is allowed to gamble, with checks that the customer is 18 or over; AML obligations under the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Acts apply to betting operators.

Payments

Credit cards and credit facilities are banned for GRAI licensees since the February 2026 commencement. Debit cards, bank transfers, Apple Pay and Google Pay, e-wallets and Revolut-style accounts are the norm. Crypto is not addressed by the commenced provisions and is not used by licensed betting operators.

Notable restrictions

• No credit cards and no credit to players
• Age verification before play; 18 and over only
• Operating remote betting without a GRAI licence is a criminal offence
• Online casino cannot be licensed until the gaming phase opens (2027-2028)
• Advertising watershed and inducement rules pending commencement

Ireland iGaming market: size, players and payments

H2 Gambling Capital estimated the total market at more than €2.3 billion in 2025 with 57% online (over €1.3 billion), of which online gaming, at roughly €770 million, is now larger than online betting; only about a third of online revenue was with onshore-licensed operators before the GRAI regime (June 2026).

ESRI research found 3.3% of adults meet the threshold for problem gambling, about 130,000 people, and that 35% had gambled online in the previous four weeks, with lotteries and horse racing the most common activities.

Irish betting is app-led; the large operators report most stakes from mobile, and the GRAI's first licences cover online and telephone betting.

Flutter's Paddy Power and Betfair, BoyleSports, bet365 and Ladbrokes lead betting; the online casino segment has been served by internationally licensed brands pending the gaming licence phase.

Timeline: how Ireland got here

1. 1931Betting Act 1931 licenses bookmakers through the Revenue Commissioners
2. 2015-08Betting (Amendment) Act 2015 brings remote bookmakers and betting exchanges into Revenue licensing and duty
3. 2019-01Betting duty doubles to 2% of stakes; intermediary duty rises to 25% of commission
4. 2024-10Gambling Regulation Act 2024 signed into law
5. 2025-03GRAI formally established with a seven-member Authority
6. 2026-02Commencement order (S.I. No. 31 of 2026) takes effect 5 February; licensing portal opens 9 February for betting licences
7. 2026-06Social Impact Fund provisions commenced (30 June)
8. 2026-07First GRAI remote betting and betting intermediary licences commence; Revenue remote licences expire
9. 2026-12Deadline for in-person bookmakers to hold GRAI licences

Outlook

The GRAI has said gaming, lottery, B2B and charitable licence applications will open across 2027 and 2028, which will create Ireland's first online casino licence and a domestic tax base for it. Watch for ministerial orders commencing Part 4 advertising rules, the inducement restrictions and the National Gambling Exclusion Register, for the Social Impact Fund contribution rate, and for annual fee regulations. The GRAI has signed cooperation agreements with the Alderney, Danish and Nevada regulators and describes action against unlicensed operators as a priority for 2026.

Launching in Ireland with GameBridge

Turnkey (your licence, our platform). GRAI licences are granted to the operator after vetting of its owners and finances, so an Irish brand runs on GameBridge under the operator's own licence; because online casino cannot yet be licensed in Ireland, a casino product for Irish residents is a question for the operator's counsel until the gaming phase opens.

An Irish sportsbook brand is configured with English as the site language, a EUR wallet, geo-controls limited to Ireland and the payment methods Irish customers use, with credit cards disabled at the cashier. KYC and age verification run before play, account closure and payout rules follow the commenced obligations, and the responsible-gaming module offers deposit, loss and session limits plus operator-level self-exclusion, ready to connect to the national register when it launches. The consent matrix and bonus engine are set up so the pending advertising and inducement rules can be switched on without redevelopment, and casino content stays disabled for Irish residents until a gaming licence exists.

• EUR wallet with credit cards disabled by rule
• KYC and age verification before first bet
• Sportsbook with horse racing, football and Gaelic games coverage
• Per-brand responsible-gaming limits and self-exclusion, register-ready
• Content exclusions that keep casino off for Irish residents until licensed
• Regulatory submissions and suspicious-transaction reporting exports

Ireland is sports-led: racing, football and Gaelic games carry the sportsbook, while the aggregated casino catalog and GameBridge Studios exclusives are held back for Irish residents until the GRAI opens gaming licences.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Minister O'Callaghan signs Commencement Order paving the way for GRAI to open for licensing applications — Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, accessed 2026-09-11
• Latest news: Commencement of GRAI remote betting licences (1 July 2026) and Annual Report 2025 — Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, accessed 2026-09-11
• S.I. No. 37/2026 - Gambling (Licence Application Fees) Regulations 2026 — Irish Statute Book, accessed 2026-09-11
• Betting Duty rates — Office of the Revenue Commissioners, accessed 2026-09-11
• Tax and Duty Manual: Betting Duty (transfer of licensing to the GRAI) — Office of the Revenue Commissioners, accessed 2026-09-11
• Irish Gambling Regulatory Regime - Implementation Update — Mondaq, accessed 2026-09-11
• Ireland Gambling Regulation Act 2024 Part 4 advertising restrictions await ministerial commencement — Licentium, accessed 2026-09-11
• Ireland's online gambling market and the GRAI transition (H2 Gambling Capital estimates) — H2 Gambling Capital, accessed 2026-09-11
• What the data says about gambling in Ireland: participation, spend and harm (ESRI findings) — TheCork.ie, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.