The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) published its Statement of Strategy for 2025 to 2027 on Wednesday, October 15. The document outlines the key strategic improvements for the Irish gambling market that the regulator plans to implement in the next three years.
GRAI Launches 2025–2025 Strategic Statement: Quick Overview
- The strategic statement focuses on the GRAI’s key goals for the next three years in areas such as licensing, monitoring, compliance, enforcement, consumer protection and awareness, and digitisation.
- Jim O’Callaghan TD, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration; Paul Quinn, Chairperson of the GRAI and Anne Marie Caulfield, GRAI CEO, launched the statement jointly at a press briefing.
- The GRAI spokespeople reiterated the regulator’s commitment to ensuring fair and safe gambling in the country. The strategic statement also focuses on prevention, protection and evidence-based regulation.
GRAI Announces Six Goals in Strategic Statement 2025 -2027
The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) issued a press release on October 15, announcing its Statement of Strategy for 2025-2027. The document outlines six strategic objectives that the regulator plans to implement in the next three years to regulate online casinos in Ireland. The objectives include:
- Licensing: The GRAI plans to implement an efficient licensing regime for all operations, including online and land-based gambling operators, lottery providers, and B2C, B2B and charitable organisations.
- Monitoring and Compliance: The regulator plans to enforce a robust monitoring framework to foster compliance among gambling operators.
- Enforcement: The GRAI is working on an enforcement framework that will enable it to “effectively, dissuasively and proportionately” penalise violators.
- Consumer Protection and Awareness: The watchdog wants to mitigate gambling harm through “research, education, communications, and financial support via the Social Impact Fund”.
- People, Organisation and Governance: It plans to empower the organisation with the necessary capabilities, people, skills, and expertise, ensuring effective governance.
- Digital First: The GRAI will also establish an effective Information and Communication Technology (ICT) network capable of supporting the regulator, its partners and stakeholders, leveraging data analytics and driving compliance.
Jim O’Callaghan TD, Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, announced the strategic plan jointly with the GRAI Chair, Paul Quinn and CEO Anne Marie Caulfield. The regulator’s latest plan of action will help the government moderate Ireland’s online gambling industry, with the licensing window set to open by the end of 2025.
Strategic Statement Outlines Objectives to Guide the GRAI’s Progress, Confirms Minister
While launching the strategic document, Minister O’Callaghan TD commended the GRAI for its dedication to regulating the industry, despite coming into force fairly recently. The minister also congratulated the regulator for successfully publishing the strategic statement.
Minister O’Callaghan TD noted:
I commend the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland on the publication of its first Statement of Strategy, which is an important milestone for the Authority, the gambling sector in Ireland and for the wider public.
He also highlighted the importance of the strategic statement in preventing gambling harm, protecting consumers, and nurturing accountability among gambling operators licensed in Ireland.
The Minister continued:
This strategy is not just about regulation; it is about educating the public, protecting those vulnerable to gambling harm, and ensuring that the industry operates to the highest standards of integrity and social responsibility. As Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, I am committed to supporting the Authority in delivering on its mandate.
Paul Quinn, Chair of the GRAI, reiterated the regulator’s commitment to upholding the highest standards in the Irish gambling industry.
Quinn stated:
As a newly established independent regulator, we have been entrusted with a vital public mandate: to ensure that gambling in Ireland is conducted in a safe, fair, and transparent manner, with the interests of individuals, families, and the wider community at its heart.
Our work is grounded in the principles of prevention, protection, and evidence-based regulation. This Statement of Strategy sets out the roadmap to delivering a modern, fair, and trusted regulatory regime that reflects the constantly evolving nature of gambling and the expectations of the Irish public.
He went on to explain the importance of the new licensing, compliance, and enforcement arrangements that the GRAI has in the works in the interest of public safety.
Quinn explained:
Establishing the new licensing arrangements, compliance management, and enforcement functions during the term of this Strategy is central to reducing the likelihood of gambling harms and will underpin a well-regulated gambling market in Ireland.
The GRAI’s CEO, Anne Marie Caulfield, echoed the Chairperson’s commitment. She said:
The Statement of Strategy outlines the vision, mission, and values of the Regulator through to 2027. Each goal within the Strategy outlines a thorough approach to our main functions, from building a robust licensing regime that will ensure operators are consistently adhering to standards to supporting research and educational initiatives that enhance our capabilities as a Regulator.
The GRAI’s Statement of Strategy 2025–2027 has been approved by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, and we look forward to achieving our strategic goals together.”
The GRAI came into power in March 2025, and it implements the provisions of Ireland’s Gambling Regulation Act 2024. The regulator operates as an independent, self-financing body under the supervision of Ireland’s Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration.
Despite being a relatively young gambling regulator, the GRAI has made steady progress in supervision, compliance, and enforcement. Earlier in July, the GRAI signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Gibraltar Gambling Commission to strengthen enforcement across international borders. The watchdog had previously signed similar MoUs with the UK Gambling Commission and the Belgian Gaming Commission.