Ireland notifies European Commission of 1% turnover contribution for gambling Social Impact Fund
Ireland has notified the European Commission of draft regulations that would require commercial gambling licensees to pay an annual contribution into the Social Impact Fund set up under the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. The notification, numbered 2026/0645/IE, was received through the EU’s TRIS procedure on 12 November 2026. The draft, titled the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 (Social Impact Fund) Regulations 2026, sets the contribution at 1% of turnover, payable by 1 July each year. It comes from the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, and the money would be collected and administered by the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI).
What the draft regulations set out
The draft is made under section 54(3) of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, which obliges the Minister to set, by regulation, the percentage of turnover licensees must pay and the manner and date of payment. Section 54(1) already requires every licensee to contribute, except holders of a gambling licence for a charitable or philanthropic purpose, and that exemption carries through into the draft.
Under the notified text, each contribution would equal 1% of the licensee’s turnover in the financial year before the contribution year. Payment would go by bank transfer or equivalent electronic transfer to an account named by the GRAI in a written contribution notice, as section 54(4) of the Act provides. According to the draft as reported, the regulations would come into operation on 1 April 2027.
Turnover does not mean the same thing for every licence type.
The definitions in section 2 of the 2024 Act treat it as income from gambling activities less winnings paid out for most licensees, as gross profit on gambling products and services for business-to-business licensees, and as the charges paid for providing the betting facility in the case of remote betting intermediaries. The euro figure each operator owes is therefore not fixed in the regulations; it is set by the GRAI’s own notice once it applies the relevant definition. Where a licence is transferred under section 109 during the contribution year, the new holder is liable only for whatever remains unpaid at the date of transfer.
Standstill period and the fund's purpose
Notification under Directive (EU) 2015/1535 opens a standstill period during which the Commission and other member states can comment on the draft. For this notification the standstill ends on 15 February 2027, and the regulations cannot be adopted before then.
In its executive summary, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration said the rate was agreed with the GRAI and the Office of the Attorney General. It described 1% of turnover as “equitable, proportionate and sustainable” and said the rate is not expected to adversely affect the ability of regulated entities to conduct their business. The notification also states that the GRAI “has indicated that it is in a position to operationalise the Social Impact Fund in 2027”.
The money is earmarked for research, prevention, education, public awareness and treatment initiatives on gambling-related harm, including support for people affected by someone else’s gambling. The provisions establishing the fund were approved by the Oireachtas in October 2024, and a draft of those provisions had already gone through TRIS in 2023.
One point remains open: the notification does not say whether contributions will cover any period before the regulations commence, a question put to the Minister in a parliamentary question on 3 November 2026.
