.svg)
Ireland will open applications for remote and land-based operator licences in December and online gambling-only licences in the first quarter of 2026, according to the country's new regulator.
The licence application process is expected to take several months.
The order and timing of commencement are subject to change, according to the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland’s (GRAI) "Live Consultations" published on Monday (April 7).
The consultations cover the first set of three key regulations the GRAI plans to introduce: setting the application fee for in-person and remote betting and gaming licences; setting the duration of a gambling licence; and establishing some additional conditions that will apply to gambling licences.
Application fees are proposed to be set on a tiered fixed-fee basis, calculated by turnover and licence type.
The GRAI wants licences to last for three years initially, as it wants to “be open for licensing for all Business-to-Consumer licence types before we have to consider applications for the renewal of licences”.
When initial applicants are granted licences, some standard licensing checks will not be carried out regarding software requirements because the relevant standards will still not have been set by the GRAI.
Consultation submissions on the proposed licensing rules will be accepted until May 5.
Monday's consultation announcement offered no official update on business-to-business (B2B) licensing for gambling suppliers.
However, the GRAI recently confirmed to Vixio GamblingCompliance that supplier licensing is “not envisaged” to be among “the first phases” of Ireland’s plan to roll out different licence types.
Additionally, the regulator confirmed that a code of practice providing practical guidance for operators to fulfil their licence obligations will be developed in the coming months.
