There are still major questions hanging over the future of Ireland’s Gaming Control Bill – including when it may actually pass into law.

Ireland

During the introductory conference session today ahead of the opening of the 2014 Irish Gaming Show, John Purcell, managing director of Purcell & Associates, explained that the bill is still in the draft stage.

Announced by minister for justice Alan Shatter last year, the bill would repeal Ireland’s antiquated gaming and betting laws. However, it remains merely a consultation paper and therefore has no legal basis until it is passed into law.

Following responses to the consultation and new recommendations, the bill is currently being drafted but there is “physically no gap in the legislative calendar” to put the bill before lawmakers until spring 2015, Purcell said.

Primary enabling legislation could be published towards the end of this year, he said, but it would only reach the floor of the Dáil Éireann if a development – criminal activity, for example - forced emergency legislation to be passed.

Purcell predicted that present gaming and betting operators in Ireland would not see the effect on their businesses until late 2015 or 2016.