Betting (Amendment) Act 2015

Orders against unlicensed bookmakers, remote bookmakers or remote betting intermediaries

28. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section:

“Unlawful conduct

32A. (1) A person shall not provide any service or facility to a person who contravenes section 2 that—

(a) will enable the second-mentioned person to have access to or use any internet address or any internet domain (or any particular facility within such domain) for the purpose of the carrying on by the second-mentioned person of a remote bookmaking operation, or

(b) will enable any other person to have access from the State to any internet address, internet domain or particular facility within such domain for the purpose of that other person’s entering into any transaction (including the making of a bet) with the second-mentioned person in connection with a remote bookmaking operation.

(2) A person shall not advertise, or cause to be advertised, a remote bookmaking operation carried on by a person who contravenes section 2.

(3) A person shall not sell or cause to be sold by retail, or otherwise supply or cause to be supplied, to a member of the public a product that bears—

(a) the name of a person who contravenes section 2, or

(b) any trade description, designation, trademark, emblem, marketing image or logo owned or used by any person in connection with a remote bookmaking operation carried on by a person referred to in paragraph (a).

Compliance notice

32B. (1) Where the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that a person has contravened section 32A, the Revenue Commissioners may serve a notice (in this Act referred to as a ‘compliance notice’) on that person.

(2) A compliance notice shall—

(a) state the grounds for the Revenue Commissioners’ being satisfied that there has been a contravention referred to in subsection (1),

(b) for the purpose of ensuring compliance by the person concerned with section 32A, require the person to do or refrain from doing such act or acts as is, or are, specified in the notice by such date as is so specified, and

(c) contain information regarding the bringing of an appeal under subsection (5) against the notice, including the manner in which an appeal shall be brought.

(3) A compliance notice shall not specify a date in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (2) that falls on or before the date by which an appeal under subsection (5) shall be brought.

(4) The Revenue Commissioners may—

(a) withdraw a compliance notice at any time, as they consider appropriate, or

(b) where no appeal is brought under this section, specify a date extending the period specified in the notice for the purposes of subsection (2) (b), and notify the person in writing accordingly.

(5) A person may appeal a compliance notice served on him or her under this section to the District Court.

(6) An appeal under this section shall be brought in the prescribed manner not later than 14 days after the service of the compliance notice concerned.

(7) The Revenue Commissioners and the appellant concerned shall be entitled to be heard and to adduce evidence at the hearing of an appeal under this section.

(8) The District Court shall, upon an appeal under this section, do one of the following:

(a) affirm the compliance notice concerned;

(b) direct the Revenue Commissioners to withdraw the compliance notice concerned.

(9) The Revenue Commissioners shall comply with a direction under subsection (8).

(10) A person who fails to comply with a compliance notice by the specified date shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or both.

(11) This section shall not operate to prevent or restrict—

(a) the entitlement of any person to bring proceedings for the purpose of securing compliance with this Act by a person, or

(b) the bringing or prosecuting of any proceedings for an offence under this Act.

(12) In this section ‘specified date’ means, in relation to a compliance notice—

(a) the date specified in the notice in accordance with paragraph (b) of subsection (2), where no appeal against the notice is brought under this section, or

(b) the day falling immediately after the expiration of the period of 7 days from the date on which the District Court so affirms the notice, where an appeal against the notice is brought under subsection (5) and the District Court affirms the notice in accordance with paragraph (a) of subsection (8).”.