Commencement order in Irish law
A commencement order is a statutory instrument, signed by a Minister, that brings specified sections of an Act into operation on a day it appoints. Under section 1(2) of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, the Minister may switch the Act on in stages, with different days for different provisions. An Act can therefore be law on the statute book while most of its protections still wait for an order.
How a commencement order works
The power comes from the parent Act itself, and section 1(2) of the 2024 Act lets the Minister appoint days generally or provision by provision. Only section 227 sits outside that power, so every other section needs an order before it binds anyone.
Each order is published as a numbered S.I. and noticed in Iris Oifigiúil, which is where a reader can confirm what is actually in force.
Players meet the term indirectly. When a site claims Irish protections, the question is whether the section granting them has been commenced, and the order is the proof.
Orders made under the 2024 Act
The table lists the orders recorded on the Irish Statute Book and the revised Act, with the day each brought provisions into operation.
| Order | Operative from | What it commenced |
|---|---|---|
| S.I. No. 57 of 2025 | 5 March 2025 | Most of Part 1, Part 3; GRAI established |
| S.I. No. 78 of 2025 | 18 March 2025 | Amended S.I. No. 57 of 2025 |
| S.I. No. 31 of 2026 | 5 February 2026 | Betting licensing, credit card ban, sanctions |
| S.I. No. 304 of 2026 | 30 June 2026 | Rest of Chapter 4 of Part 2 |
| Section 227 | No order needed | Excluded from section 1(2) |
| Remote gaming licences | No order found | Online casino licensing not commenced |
Commencement order versus enactment
The common mistake is to treat the date an Act was signed as the date it applies. The 2024 Act was enacted on 23 October 2024, yet nothing in it operated until the first order took effect on 5 March 2025.
A licence is a separate step again.
An order allowing the GRAI to issue betting licences does not mean any operator holds one, and until an order commences remote gaming licensing, an online casino taking Irish players is relying on a licence issued elsewhere, such as by the MGA, which does not carry the remedies the Act gives against an Irish licensee.
