Are online casinos legal in Ireland? The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 and GRAI licensing, explained

Are online casinos legal in Ireland? The short answer

Are online casinos legal in Ireland? Irish law now requires a licence to offer casino-style games, but the regulator has not opened online casino licensing yet. So today there is no Irish-licensed online casino to point to, and the sites Irish players actually use are generally licensed in other countries. The law as written targets the operator who provides the game, not the player, but the safety net you would get from an Irish licence does not exist yet.

That answer is more specific than most search results give, because most older pages describe a regime that has been replaced. This guide uses the text of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 on the Irish Statute Book, the regulator's own pages and a local report on licensing status. This is not legal advice, and anyone with a specific legal question should talk to a solicitor.

The law: the Gambling Regulation Act 2024

The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 is Number 35 of 2024 and was signed on 23 October 2024, according to the Irish Statute Book. Older explainers still cite the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, so treat pages that ignore the 2024 Act as dated. The 2024 Act's contents list runs to hundreds of sections covering licensing, obligations on licensees, advertising, offences and enforcement under one regulator.

The regulator is the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, or GRAI. Its website describes it as Ireland's new regulator for gambling, gaming, betting and certain lottery activities, and its first annual report says it was formally established in March 2025 to licence, supervise and control gambling activities under the Act. The GRAI says its role is to make sure gambling is well regulated and fair, with protections for people who are most vulnerable, particularly children.

What section 67 says about providing casino games

The key provision for casinos is section 67(2). It says a person shall not provide, or cause another person to provide, a game unless that person is a licensee of a gaming licence and the game is a relevant game, or holds a licence for a charitable or philanthropic purpose, and the game is provided in person or by remote means in accordance with the licence. Remote means includes online. Section 4 adds that providing a game means selling or offering to sell it, or causing another person to do so.

Section 68 makes room for staff: an employee, servant or agent of a licensee may provide a relevant game in that capacity. The practical effect is that a casino company needs the licence, and its employees are covered by the company's licence rather than needing their own.

Section 67(4) sets the penalty. Contravening the section is an offence, with a class A fine or up to 12 months in prison, or both, on summary conviction, and a fine or up to 8 years in prison, or both, on conviction on indictment. These penalties apply to the person who provides the game. In the sections we read, we did not find an equivalent offence for a player who plays on an unlicensed site, but this is not legal advice.

Where online casino licensing stands in October 2026

The Act applies to licence holders as they become licensed, and the GRAI says that will happen on a phased basis. Its licensing guidance page says the Authority is taking a phased approach to the different types of licence, and that it is engaging with the Revenue Commissioners on gaming licences. The page tells existing licence holders to continue to renew, and says new applicants should continue to engage with Revenue for now.

A local report fills in the timeline. The Con Telegraph reported on 7 September 2026 that the GRAI has been issuing the country's first remote betting licences since 1 July 2026, while online casino and gaming licences are not expected to open before 2027. It also reported that searching for a GRAI-licensed online casino returns nothing. We treat that report as secondary and recommend checking the GRAI website for the current position.

The same report describes a gap of well over a year in which casino-style sites are not under Irish licensing. That gap is why there is no simple yes or no. The offence in section 67 exists, but the licence it refers to cannot yet be obtained for online casino games.

What it means for players using offshore sites

Because Irish casino licences are not available yet, the sites Irish players find are generally licensed elsewhere. The Con Telegraph report names Malta and, sometimes, Curaçao as the usual licensing places. Those licences come with their own rules, but they are not Irish licences, so the protections Ireland is building do not automatically apply.

The report highlights two specific gaps. Foreign licences do not carry Irish advertising watershed rules, and they do not cover the National Gambling Exclusion Register, which will eventually let a person self-exclude from all GRAI-licensed operators at once. If you self-excluded through an Irish scheme in the past, do not assume it reaches an offshore casino.

The Act also changes the contract position for bookmakers. Section 6 says no action shall lie in contract in relation to a relevant betting activity with a licensee that provides the activity as a bookmaker. That section concerns betting rather than casino games, but it is a reminder that the legal remedies around gambling are not the same as in ordinary consumer purchases. Do not assume you can recover losses through the courts.

What licensed operators will have to do

The Act's contents list shows what the licence will bring. Obligations on licensees of remote gambling licences are set out in a dedicated chapter, including an obligation to provide a facility that lets a participant set a monetary limit (section 164) and an obligation about the method of payment for gambling (section 165). The chapter also covers a register of account-holders and rules before providing gambling by remote means.

Advertising is covered too. The Act has sections on prohibited material in advertisements (section 148), prohibited hours for advertising on certain media (section 149) and a prohibition on branded clothing and merchandise (section 151). These are headings from the contents list; we have not quoted their detailed rules, which should be read in the Act itself.

The GRAI also says it will work to prevent gambling being a source or support to crime and to put certain limits on advertising and inducements. Those are statements of intent from the regulator, and they take effect only for licensed operators as licensing opens.

How to check a licence and spot fraud

Until Irish casino licences exist, any site claiming one should be treated with suspicion. Section 111 of the Act creates an offence of falsely representing a licence or registration number, which tells you regulators expect fake claims. Check the name of the regulator, then check that regulator's own public register for the operator and the number, instead of trusting a badge on the site.

The Con Telegraph report recommends three practical checks: verify the licence with a named regulator and a checkable number, confirm that deposit limits and self-exclusion are in the account settings, and watch for slow withdrawals, sudden account closures or unusual document requests. It also cites a June 2026 AIB report of a sharp rise in fraudulent investment sites, where victims usually discover the problem at the withdrawal stage. That is investment fraud rather than casino fraud, but the pattern is the same.

Where to get help in Ireland

If gambling is causing harm, the GRAI website has a Get Help section and advice pages, and it runs a campaign with the Health Service Executive Addiction Services to help parents spot the signs of underage gambling, launched on 13 July 2026. The GRAI home page links to this advice and to tools for pinpointing triggers.

The Con Telegraph lists GamblingCare.ie as a free, confidential helpline on 1800 936 725. Check the number on the GRAI website before calling, since helpline details can change. Nothing in this article is an invitation to gamble, and if you or someone you know is struggling, stopping and asking for help is the best step.