Betting is well-known for being among the most highly regulated industries in the world, depending on the country you are in. Ireland is one of the biggest betting industries in the world per capita, and so there is naturally a constant, ongoing debate about the nature of reform and regulation.
Portugal has been seen by many as a shining example of how best to regulate your betting industry, keeping consumers safe without stepping on people’s freedoms and rights. But many wonder whether Ireland can actually learn anything from the regulation in Portugal, so today we’re going to cover some ways in which Ireland might gain from following Portugal’s lead.
Let’s get started.
State-monopoly
One of the biggest points about Portugal’s betting regulation is the importance of the state monopoly over certain forms of gambling. Licenses are of course available for most forms of online betting, and without them a private operator cannot offer online betting services to consumers. The lottery, though, in Portugal, is totally restricted to the state. Lottoland, though, has broken Ireland’s state monopoly on the lottery. Given the popularity of lotteries as a form of betting—in most nations they are by far the most popular form of betting—having a state monopoly certainly seems well advised.
Ireland, then, could certainly learn from Portugal’s maintaining a state-monopoly on lottery games.
Free market
On the other hand, Ireland could perhaps learn from Portugal’s regulation of its free market gambling. Obtaining a license is more rigorous process in Portugal for a number of reasons, and again this is a good step to help protect consumers against all sorts of financial harm. Allowing operators to operate legally, while still giving them the freedom to offer the services they need to, is a great way to regulate the industry.
This is not to say that Ireland’s free market gambling industry is entirely unregulated. As seen, some of the popular Irish bookmakers have registered with Revenue, Ireland’s tax and licensing authority. These, though, are the kinds of regulations that must be constantly updated in the face of new technologies that change the playing field, and Ireland could certainly learn something from Portugal in that regard.
Fraud and crime prevention
In general, the betting industry is seen as a hotbed for money laundering and other criminal activities like fraud, and this of course is one of the reasons why it is so heavily regulated. In 2015, Portugal implemented the Legal Framework of Online Gaming and Betting, with an eye to achieving many different goals like foster community and responsibility, protect children, avoid fraud, and in general prevent criminal behaviour. Money laundering, in particular, is often a problem in the industry, and so the bill hoped to address all of these issues.
Sweeping, ambitious legislation like this is certainly troublesome to properly implement, but it is really vital and this is another area where Ireland could learn from Portugal’s regulation. This is not even just a question of what aspects of the industry are regulated, but how the regulation is implemented and enforced, as well as monitoring how successful and impactful it is.
Land-based casinos
Finally, land-based casinos are ostensibly illegal in Ireland. While some establishments are able to get around the rules in one way or another, usually through private membership and things like that, the fact remains that casinos are illegal. While this can be good on the one hand for preventing problem gambling, the casinos exist anyway—and are thus less heavily regulated when they do.
Portugal, on the other hand, has made land-based casinos an important part of its tourism industry. This means that the casinos themselves can be more closely regulated by local and federal authorities, while also being able to provide that great service for local people and tourists. Ireland could certainly learn something from this.
So, there are certainly a lot of questions that can be raised about Portugal’s approach, but at the same time Ireland could obviously learn a lot from Portugal’s regulation. Having more of a state-monopoly over some forms of gambling can help in simplifying red tape, as well as in reducing the risk of fraud and other crime. Land-based casinos, technically illegal in Ireland, could be a good attractor of tourism—it’s all a balancing act.
