How to complain about gambling ads or information in Ireland

Last reviewed 27 May 2026

Written by Mariia Magus · iGaming Content Researcher · Reviewed 2026-05-27

If you want to complain about gambling information in Ireland, start by deciding what you are complaining about. An ad or marketing communication, a regulator or licensing question, a customer dispute with a gambling business, and pressure that is affecting your own gambling do not all go to the same place.

This guide is for the Republic of Ireland. It is informational, 18+, and not legal advice. It does not decide whether any specific ad breaches the Irish advertising code or the Gambling Regulation Act 2024. It helps you choose the official route and keep your complaint factual. Our source hierarchy is explained on Methodology.

Quick answer

As of 2026-05-27, GRAI’s public general-enquiries page sends current gambling-advertisement content complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority, while also saying individual customer disputes with gambling businesses should be escalated directly with the operator first. That means the practical first step is route selection, not writing one complaint and sending it everywhere.

For most readers:

• ad content or targeting concern: start with the Advertising Standards Authority;
• regulator, licensing, or Act-rollout question: ask GRAI through its public contact route;
• account, payment, product, or service dispute: complain to the business in writing first and use consumer-rights routes where relevant;
• pressure to gamble after seeing content: use support routes before spending time on a complaint.

Start by choosing the right route

Use the route below before writing a complaint. If the issue fits more than one row, start with the row that matches the outcome you want: advertising review, regulator information, consumer-rights resolution, or personal support.

The route matters because a clear complaint usually answers a narrow question: “what was shown, where was it shown, when was it shown, and why does it concern me?” It should not try to do the regulator’s work for them.

If it is a gambling ad or marketing communication

For ad-content concerns, start with the Advertising Standards Authority. Its complaints page says it provides a free complaints service for advertisements or marketing communications that may not comply with the Irish advertising code. It describes three public routes: social-media influencer reporting, anonymous advertisement reporting, and a formal advertisement complaint.

The Make a Complaint page adds useful distinctions:

• Social Media Influencer Reporting is for anonymously reporting influencer advertising concerns.
• Advertisement Reporting lets you submit anonymous feedback on an advertisement. The Advertising Standards Authority says this feedback can be reviewed and used for trend analysis, and that a formal investigation may depend on factors such as complaint level and subject matter.
• Scam Ad Reporting is for online scam ads in paid-for space.
• Advertisement Formal Complaint is for a complaint about the content of an advertisement or promotion, including online and digital media, or about how a promotion was carried out. A formal complaint requires full name and contact details for verification.

If your concern is about gambling-specific advertising rules, use the Gambling advertising rules in Ireland explainer first to identify the likely rule layer. The active public advertising-standard source is ASAI Code Section 10 on gambling. It covers gambling marketing communications and includes rules on responsible-gambling messages, harmful framing, substantiation, children, youth appeal, and some placement issues.

Keep the complaint factual. A useful wording pattern is:

I saw this gambling marketing communication on [date] at [place/platform]. It appeared to show [specific claim, image, offer type, or targeting concern]. I am asking whether it complies with the Irish advertising code.

Do not add a legal conclusion unless you are quoting an official source. You can cite the code section you think is relevant, but the official body decides whether to progress the complaint.

If it is a regulator or licensing question for GRAI

Use GRAI for regulator, licensing, and statutory-rollout questions. GRAI says Ireland’s new regulator is responsible for making sure gambling is well regulated and fair, with protections for vulnerable people, especially children. It also says obligations under the Act will apply to licence holders on a phased basis.

For contact, GRAI’s general enquiries page says the best way to contact it is through its webform. That same page gives two important limits for this article:

• GRAI says it does not have responsibility for individual customer disputes with a gambling business. Customers should escalate disputes directly with the operator.
• For complaints regarding content in gambling advertisements at present, GRAI points readers to the Advertising Standards Authority.

GRAI also says obligations on licensees in relation to gambling advertisements are covered under Part 6 of the Gambling Regulation Act, and that it will take complaints regarding breaches of obligation when Part 7 is commenced. That is a status caveat, not a route to treat every current ad complaint as a GRAI enforcement matter.

Use the Regulation hub if your question is about the Act, commencement status, licensing rollout, or the regulator’s public role. Use the Advertising Standards Authority route if your immediate concern is the content or targeting of a current marketing communication.

If it is a consumer dispute with a business

A customer dispute is different from an advertising complaint. Examples include an account issue, a payment dispute, a product or service problem, a withdrawal or transaction record, or a business response you are unhappy with. This page does not assess those disputes, and it does not name any operator.

The CCPC’s how to complain to a business guidance says the first step for a consumer-rights issue is to try to resolve it directly with the business. If that does not resolve the issue, it says to make a formal complaint in writing. The information to include is practical: complaint date, contact details, company name, what you purchased, reference or order details, purchase date, receipt, details of the problem, and what you want the business to do.

If you believe an Irish-based business has breached your consumer rights, the CCPC also provides a report a business route. The CCPC says reports help it identify sectors and companies where action may be needed, but it does not act on behalf of individual consumers.

That difference matters for expectations. A report may help an authority understand a pattern. It may not personally resolve your account issue. If the issue is urgent, time-sensitive, high-value, or legally complex, consider getting independent advice before relying on a web article.

Evidence to keep before you submit anything

Before submitting an advertising complaint, regulator query, or consumer complaint, save the evidence while it is still visible.

For an ad or marketing communication:

• screenshot or screen recording;
• URL or app/platform name;
• date and time seen;
• where it appeared, such as website, social media, email, search ad, outdoor placement, radio, TV, or app;
• advertiser or business name if visible;
• the specific words, image, claim, age-targeting concern, or placement concern;
• any responsible-gambling message shown, or a note that you could not see one.

For a business or account dispute:

• account, order, receipt, or reference number;
• dates of contact with the business;
• copies of emails, chat logs, letters, or screenshots;
• the exact issue and the outcome you asked for;
• any response or refusal from the business.

For a regulator or licensing question:

• the public source you are asking about;
• date you checked it;
• the specific sentence, licence claim, or status claim that needs clarification;
• the narrow question you want answered.

Do not edit screenshots beyond cropping irrelevant private information. Do not send more personal data than the official form asks for. If a form requires contact details, use the official page’s own instructions.

What not to claim in your complaint

A strong complaint is specific. It does not need to sound legal.

Avoid:

• saying an ad is illegal unless you are quoting an official finding;
• claiming a business has committed a criminal offence unless an authority has said that;
• accusing a person or company of intent you cannot evidence;
• asking for a particular sanction;
• turning a personal reaction into a universal claim about all viewers;
• copying long sections of law without explaining the actual ad or dispute;
• adding operator rankings, affiliate claims, or commentary about which gambling site is better.

Better: “The post appeared in my feed on 2026-05-27 and showed a gambling brand with no visible responsible-gambling message. I am asking whether this is within the Advertising Standards Authority’s remit.”

Better: “The business has not answered my written complaint dated 2026-05-27. I am reporting the issue to understand my consumer-rights next steps.”

Those examples stay factual. They leave the decision to the body that handles the route.

If the ad pushed you toward gambling

If the problem is not only the ad but what happened after you saw it, treat support as the first route. GRAI’s Get Help page signposts gambling-support services, and GamblingCare.ie lists the National Gambling Helpline for Ireland at 1800 936 725.

You can still save evidence for a later complaint. But if the content made it harder to stop, triggered spending, or created pressure to gamble, use the support route now and the complaint route when you have enough space to write it clearly. The full support directory is Gambling Helplines in Ireland.

How this page relates to nearby guides

Use Gambling advertising rules in Ireland if you need the rule map for ASAI Section 10 and the Act’s advertising provisions. Use Informational vs Promotional Gambling Content if you are deciding whether a gambling article is informational, mixed, or promotional. Use the Guides hub for practical reader questions and the Regulation hub for legal-source tracking.

This page stays narrower. It is about choosing the official route, collecting evidence, and keeping the complaint factual.

When this page was last verified

This page was last verified against the cited primary sources on 2026-05-27.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-27.

Re-check earlier than the normal freshness cycle if any of these change:

• GRAI publishes a dedicated public complaint portal or changes its general-enquiries guidance.
• Part 7 complaint or enforcement functions are publicly commenced in a way that changes the route.
• The Advertising Standards Authority changes complaint categories, form requirements, or its gambling-code page.
• The CCPC changes its business-complaint or report-a-business guidance.
• GamblingCare.ie or GRAI updates the National Gambling Helpline route.

This page is informational. It is 18+ and not legal advice. It does not assess whether a specific ad, business, or operator has breached Irish law. For correction handling and source rules, see Methodology.