Ireland Moves Forward with Social Impact Fund to Address Gambling Harms
Ireland’s gambling regulator is seeking input from people affected by gambling harm as it designs the country’s Social Impact Fund. Funded through a mandatory industry levy, the initiative will support treatment, research, and education efforts under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024.
Industry to finance harm prevention efforts
Ireland passed the Gambling Regulation Act in October 2024. This legislation created the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) and authorized it to build a new framework for the gambling sector. One of its main responsibilities is launching the Social Impact Fund.
Licensed gambling operators will pay a levy, based on turnover, to finance the fund. These contributions will fund research, prevention programs, treatment services, and public education campaigns. Charitable lottery operators won’t have to pay into the fund.
Lawmakers stressed that industry stakeholders, not taxpayers, will cover the fund’s cost. Deputy James Browne said during final debates: “The impact on the taxpayer once it is up and running should be zero.”
Public consultation open until May 15
To shape the fund’s priorities, GRAI launched four surveys on April 14. It’s collecting feedback from people who have experienced gambling addiction, service providers, NGOs, and affected family members.
Submissions are open until May 15. The regulator says it will use this input to guide how the fund operates. Pobal, a social inclusion nonprofit, is supporting the process. The organization also created the surveys.
GRAI will form advisory panels to help develop the wider regulatory system. One of these panels will include people with lived experience of gambling harm. The regulator has called the fund’s rollout a “key priority.”
They will manage the fund day-to-day, but the Department of Justice will control how money gets distributed. It will also decide what percentage of turnover each licensee must contribute. If an operator can’t return funds after closing a player account, the law says that money will go into the Social Impact Fund.
Model echoes UK’s new funding structure
Ireland’s fund shares similarities with the UK’s new statutory levy, introduced in April. The UK model aims to raise £100 million a year by charging most online operators 1.1% of gross gambling yield.
In the UK, researchers have warned that industry-linked funding may influence the independence of gambling research. Professor Sam Chamberlain of the University of Southampton said:
“Many of the good researchers in the field of gambling would have not been prepared to take that money because of ethical and other concerns.”