Club lottos may earn reprieve from advertising watershed

The new bill is awaiting report and final stage in the Dáil. 

ADVERTISING WATERSHED: It had been feared that the proposed legislation would not permit the draws to be advertised online before the recommended 9pm watershed and only in a specific overnight eight-and-a-half-hour period. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

There is growing optimism among GAA officials that the advertising of club lottos and draws will not be overly impacted by the gambling regulation bill.

The prospect of clubs and counties having to curtail online promotion of their fundraising initiatives had been flagged as a concern at Management Committee and Central Council last year.

It had been feared that the proposed legislation would not permit the draws to be advertised online before the recommended 9pm watershed and only in a specific overnight eight-and-a-half-hour period.

The bill states: “A person shall not knowingly advertise, or cause another person to advertise, a relevant gambling activity on television, radio or an on-demand audio-visual media service between the hours of 5:30 am and 9:00 pm.” 

However, there is renewed hope that volunteer organisations may be afforded more leeway in promoting their lottos and draws. A letter issued by the Federation of Sport and co-signed by the GAA sent to Minister for Justice Helen McEntee late last year argued the watershed “should not apply to community based not-for-profit organisations when essentially the legislation designed is for commercial and for profit corporations.” 

Put forward by Minister for State at the Department of Justice James Browne, the bill is awaiting report and final stage in the Dáil. A statement from the department to the Irish Examiner read: “The Minister (Browne) recognises that fundraising via lotteries, raffles, etc. have traditionally been an important source of fundraising for sports clubs and there is no intention to prevent the continuation of that.

“It is however important that the regulation of these activities is modernised and that we ensure that someone cannot operate and offer gambling activities under the guise of being in aid of a charitable or philanthropic organisation.

“Sports clubs and organisations that operate and promote lotteries as part of their fundraising model are already subject to regulation via the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956. The relevant provisions in the Gambling Regulation Bill are a direct continuation of existing policy, and the measures, albeit modernised, provided for in the 1956 Act.

“In this context, the Bill provides for a new type of licence that permits gaming, betting and lottery activities for fundraising for charitable or philanthropic purposes such as local sports clubs, good causes, etc. Previously such licences were limited to lottery activities.” 

Under the new licence, permission will not be required when it is for a charitable or philanthropic cause, the total value of the winnings does not exceed €2,000, the minimum payment to participate is not over €5 and the number of tickets is limited to 1,500.

For a charitable or philanthropic purpose lottery gambling licence, the lottery can’t exceed €30,000 per week or €3,000 per game. For a once-off activity, the licence will allow up nothing above €360,000. There is no maximum entry fee for either a regular lottery or one-off.