BETTING ACT, 1926

AN ACT TO MAKE PROVISION FOR THE BETTER REGULATION AND CONTROL OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF BOOK-MAKING, TO REGULATE AND CONTROL THE USE OF TOTALISATORS, AND FOR THOSE AND OTHER PURPOSES TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO BETTING AND BETTING-HOUSES. [28th July, 1926.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS OF SAORSTÁT EIREANN AS FOLLOWS:—

1 Definitions.

1.—In this Act—

the expression “the Minister” means the Minister for Finance;

the expression “licensed bookmaker” means a person (not being a body corporate or an unincorporated body of persons) who is the holder of a bookmaker's licence issued to him under this Act and for the time being in force;

the word “premises” means any house or other building and includes a defined part of a house or other building;

the expression “registered premises” means premises for the time being registered in the register of bookmaking offices established and maintained under this Act;

the word “proprietor” means the person entitled to the exclusive occupation of the premises in relation to which the word is used, and, where the context so admits, includes a number of persons jointly so entitled, the expression “registered proprietor” means a person who is for the time being entered in the said register of bookmaking offices as the proprietor of premises registered in that register, and where the context so admits the said expression includes a number of persons entered in the said register as joint proprietors of premises so registered;

the word “totalisator” means an apparatus or organisation by means of which an unlimited number of persons can each stake money in respect of a future event on the terms that the amount to be won by the successful stakers is dependent on or to be calculated with reference to the total amount staked by means of the apparatus or organisation in relation to that event but not necessarily on the same contingency, and the said word includes all offices, tickets, recorders, and other things ancillary or incidental to the working of the apparatus or organisation, the word “bet” includes wager, and cognate words shall be construed accordingly;

the word “prescribed” when used in relation to the District Court or a member of the Gárda Síochána means prescribed by the Minister for Justice and when used in relation to the Revenue Commissioners means prescribed by the Minister for Finance.

2 Prohibition of acting as bookmaker without licence.

2.—(1) No person shall carry on business or act as a bookmaker or hold himself out or represent himself to be a bookmaker or a licensed bookmaker unless he holds a bookmaker's licence granted to him under this Act and for the time being in force.

• (2) Every person who carries on business or acts as a bookmaker in contravention of this section and every person who holds himself out or represents himself to be a bookmaker or a licensed bookmaker in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of five hundred pounds

3 Certificate of personal fitness.

3.—(1) Any person (other than a body corporate or an un-incorporated body of persons) desiring to obtain a bookmaker's licence may apply in the prescribed manner to the Superintendent of the Gárda Síochána of the district in which he has or proposes to have an office registered under this Act or, if he has not and does not propose to have any such office, to the Superintendent of the Gárda Síochána for the district in which he ordinarily resides for a certificate (in this Act referred to as a certificate of personal fitness) that he is a fit and proper person to have a bookmaker's licence. Such application must be approved by two Peace Commissioners for the district in which the applicant re-sides, whose approval shall be testified by their signature to the application; and an advertisement shall be inserted by the applicant in at least two newspapers circulating in the district of his intention to apply for such bookmaker's licence not less than a fortnight nor more than a month before the date of the making of the application.

• (2) A superintendent of the Gárda Síoehána to whom an application for a certificate of personal fitness is duly made under this section shall, within fourteen days after the receipt of such application, do one or other as he in his discretion shall think proper of the following things, that is to say, either give to the applicant a certificate in the prescribed form that he is a fit and proper person to have a bookmaker's licence or on any one or more of the grounds hereinafter authorised refuse to give such certificate.

4 Grounds for refusal of certificate of personal fitness.

4.—A certificate of personal fitness may be refused on any one or more of the following grounds and on no other ground whatsoever, that is to say:—

• (a) that at the time of the application for the certificate arrears of any duty for the time being payable on or in respect of bets are due and owing by the applicant;

• (b) that the applicant had been previously convicted of a crime or of an offence under this Act or had since the commencement of this Act been convicted of an offence under any Act relating to gaming or gaming houses;

• (c) that a bookmaker's licence previously held by the applicant had been revoked under this Act;

• (d) that a previous refusal by a superintendent of the Gárda Síochána to give a certificate of personal fitness had been confirmed on appeal to the District Court;

• (e) that the applicant is by reason of his general character or his known habits not a fit person to hold a bookmaker's licence.

5 Issue of bookmaker's licences.

5.—(1) Any person to whom a certificate of personal fitness has been given may within twenty-one days after the issue of such certificate apply to the Revenue Commissioners in writing in the prescribed form for a bookmaker's licence for such period not exceeding one year and commencing on such date not later than fourteen days after the date of the application as he shall specify in the application.

• (2) Upon delivery of such application as aforesaid to the Revenue Commissioners and payment to the Revenue Commissioners by the applicant of the excise duty for the time being required by law to be paid by persons taking out a bookmaker's licence for the period specified in the application, the Revenue Commissioners shall issue to the applicant a bookmaker's licence expressed to be in force for such period not exceeding one year and commencing on such date not being later than fourteen days after the date of such application as shall have been specified in that behalf in such application.

• (3) Every bookmaker's licence shall be in the prescribed form and shall operate and be expressed to authorise the person to whom it is issued (who shall be named therein) to act and carry on business as a bookmaker so long as the licence remains in force, but subject and without prejudice to all restrictions and prohibitions for the time being imposed by law in respect of the places in which the business of bookmaking may be carried on.

• (4) Unless and until revoked under this Act, every bookmaker's licence shall remain in force during the period specified in that behalf therein.

6 The register of bookmaking offices.

6.—(1) The Revenue Commissioners shall keep a register (in this Act referred to as the register of bookmaking offices) in the prescribed form of premises in which the business of bookmaking is carried on and shall register therein all such premises as they are by virtue of this Act required to register therein.

• (2) There shall be entered in the register of bookmaking offices in respect of all premises registered therein the name of the proprietor thereof, a precise description of the premises, and such other particulars as shall be prescribed.

7 Certificate of suitability of premises.

7.—(1) Any person desiring to register or continue the registration of any premises of which he is the proprietor in the register of bookmaking offices may apply in the prescribed manner to the superintendent of the Gárda Síochána of the district in which the premises are situate for a certificate (in this Act referred to as a certificate of suitability of premises) that such premises are suitable for registration in the register of book-making offices. Such application must be approved by two Peace Commissioners for the district in which the applicant resides, whose approval shall be testified by their signature to the application; and an advertisement shall be inserted by the applicant in at least two newspapers circulating in the district of his intention to apply for such certificate not less than a fortnight nor more than a month before the date of the making of the application.

• (2) A superintendent of the Gárda Síochána to whom an application for a certificate of suitability of premises is duly made under this section shall, if he is satisfied that the applicant is either a licensed bookmaker or the holder of a certificate of personal fitness issued after or not more than seven days before the date of the application, do one or other as he in his discretion shall think proper of the following things within fourteen days after the receipt by him of such application, that is to say, either give to the applicant a certificate in the prescribed form that the premises the subject of the application are suitable for registration in the register of bookmaking offices or on any one or more of the grounds hereinafter authorised refuse to give such certificate.

8 Grounds for refusal of certificate of suitability of premises.

8.—A certificate of suitability of premises may be refused on any one or more of the following grounds and on no other ground whatsoever, that is to say:—

• (a) that the applicant is neither a licensed bookmaker nor the holder of a certificate of personal fitness;

• (b) that the applicant is not the proprietor of the premises;

• (c) that the premises are in close proximity to a place of worship, a religious institution, a school, an employment exchange, a factory or works, or other similar place in or near which large numbers of persons congregate, or are situate in a residential area;

• (d) that the premises are in close proximity to premises known to be resorted to habitually by evilly-disposed persons;

• (e) that the premises communicate internally with other premises;

• (f) that the premises had previously been registered in the register of bookmaking offices and had been removed from that register pursuant to an order of the court;

• (g) that the premises are registered in the register of bookmaking premises and during such registration irregularities had occurred owing to the close proximity of the premises to premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor;

• (h) that the applicant had previously been convicted of an offence under this or any other Act in relation to the premises or in relation to any other registered premises of which he was the registered proprietor at the time the offence was committed;

• (i) if the premises are or had been previously registered in the register of bookmaking offices, that at some time while the applicant was the registered proprietor thereof the business of bookmaking had been conducted therein in a disorderly manner or in such manner as to cause or encourage persons to congregate and loiter in large numbers in or outside the premises;

• (j) that the applicant is or had previously been the registered proprietor of other registered premises and that the business of bookmaking is being or had while the applicant was such registered proprietor been conducted in such premises in a disorderly manner or in such manner as to cause or encourage persons to congregate and loiter in large numbers in or outside the premises.

9 Registration in register of bookmaking offices.

9.—(1) Any licensed bookmaker to whom a certificate of suitability of premises has been given in respect of any premises of which he is the proprietor may within twenty-one days after the issue of such certificate apply to the Revenue Commissioners in writing in the prescribed form to register or renew the registration of the premises mentioned in such certificate in the register of bookmaking premises and upon delivery of such application to the Revenue Commissioners and payment to the Revenue Commissioners by the applicant of the excise duty for the time being required by law to be paid on the registration or the renewal of the registration of premises in the register of bookmaking offices, the Revenue Commissioners shall register or renew the registration of the said premises in the register of bookmaking offices and shall issue to the applicant a certificate in the prescribed form of such registration or renewal of registration.

• (2) Unless and until removed from the register under or by virtue of this Act, any premises registered in the register of bookmaking offices shall continue to be so registered until midnight on the 31st day of October next after the registration thereof and shall then (unless the registration has been renewed under this Act) be removed from the said register.

• (3) Every renewal of the registration of any premises in the register of bookmaking offices shall commence and take effect as from the expiration of the registration or the last renewal of the registration (as the case may require) of the said premises in the said register and, unless and until removed from the register under or by virtue of this Act, such premises shall continue so registered until midnight on the 31st day of October next after the commencement of such renewal and shall then (unless the registration is again renewed under this Act) be removed from the said register.

• (4) An application for the renewal of the registration of any premises in the register of bookmaking offices shall be made before but not more than fourteen days before the expiration of the registration or the last renewal of the registration of such premises in the said register.

10 Appeals from refusal of certificate.

10.—(1) Whenever a superintendent of the Gárda Síochána refuses to give a certificate of personal fitness or a certificate of suitability of premises, he shall, on demand made by the applicant for the certificate within six days after the refusal, give to such applicant a statement in writing in the prescribed form of the grounds on which he refused to give the certificate.

• (2) Any person to whom a certificate of personal fitness or a certificate of suitability of premises has been refused by a superintendent of the Gárda Síochána may, within twenty-one days after receiving from such superintendent a statement in writing of the grounds of such refusal, appeal in the prescribed manner from such refusal to the District Court.

• (3) Every person who appeals to the District Court under this section shall in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time give notice of such appeal to the said superintendent of the Gárda Síochána and also to the Revenue Commissioners.

• (4) On the hearing of any such appeal the District Court may either confirm or disallow the refusal of the certificate, and, whenever the District Court so disallows a refusal of the certificate, the said superintendent of the Gárda Síochána shall within three days after such disallowance give to the appellant a certificate of personal fitness or a certificate of suitability of premises, as the case may require.

• (5) The following provisions shall apply to every appeal under this section, that is to say:

• (a) no party except the superintendent of the Gárda Síochána and the Revenue Commissioners shall be heard in opposition to the appeal;

• (b) Section 27 of the Inland Revenue Regulation Act, 1890, shall apply to the appeal in like manner as it applies to the proceedings relating to inland revenue;

• (c) any ground of refusal mentioned in the written statement of grounds of refusal and no other ground may be advanced in opposition to the appeal;

• (d) whenever the refusal is confirmed the Court may order the appellant to pay the costs of the superintendent of the Gárda Síochána and may measure the amount of such costs;

• (e) no appeal shall lie to the Circuit Court under section 84 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 (No. 10 of 1.924).

11 Temporary licences and registration pending appeal.

11.—(1) Whenever an application for a certificate of personal fitness is refused by a superintendent of the Gárda Síochátia and an appeal from such refusal to the District Court is lodged, then if the applicant at the time of making the application was and had been for not less than nine months previously a licensed bookmaker, the Revenue Commissioners may, without payment of any duty but subject to such conditions as they may think fit to impose, issue to such applicant a temporary bookmaker's licence for such period not extending beyond the expiration of seven days after the decision of such appeal as they may think fit, and every such temporary bookmaker's licence shall while it remains in force be a bookmaker's licence within the meaning of this Act.

• (2) Whenever an application for a certificate of suitability of premises in respect of premises which are registered premises at the date of such application is refused by the superintendent of the Gárda Síochána and an appeal from such refusal to the District Court is lodged the Revenue Commissioners may, without the payment of any duty but subject to such conditions as they may think fit to impose, retain such premises on the register of bookmaking offices pending the decision of such appeal.

12 Cancellation of licences or registration by court.

12.—(1) Whenever a licensed bookmaker is convicted of any crime or of any offence under this or any other Act and the Court by or before whom such bookmaker is so convicted is of opinion that such crime or offence was of such nature or character or was committed in such circumstances that the commission thereof rendered such bookmaker unfit to continue to hold a bookmaker's licence, such Court may when imposing sentence revoke the bookmaker's licence held by such bookmaker.

• (2) Whenever the registered proprietor of any registered premises is convicted of an offence under any section of this Act in relation to such premises and the Court by or before whom such proprietor is so convicted is of opinion that, having regard to the nature and character of the offence and the circumstances in which it was committed, it is not expedient that such premises should continue to be registered in the register of bookmaking offices, such Court may, when imposing sentence and with or without revoking the bookmaker's licence held by such proprietor direct that such premises be removed from the register of bookmaking offices.

• (3) Whenever a bookmaker's licence is revoked by a court under this section or a court directs under this section any registered premises to be removed from the register of bookmaking offices, the registrar, clerk, or other principal officer of such court shall communicate the fact of such revocation or such direction (as the case may be) to the Revenue Commissioners and the Revenue Commissioners shall thereupon record such revocation or remove such premises from the register of bookmaking offices, as the case may require.

• (4) Whenever a bookmaker's licence is revoked under this section, the bookmaker or other person who has possession or custody of such licence at the time of such revocation shall within seven days after such revocation deliver such licence to an officer of customs and excise and such officer shall forthwith cancel such licence, and every such bookmaker or other person who fails so to deliver such licence shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of ten pounds.

13 Removal of premises from register of bookmaking offices.

13.—(1) Whenever the sole registered proprietor of any registered premises ceases to be a licensed bookmaker or ceases to be the proprietor of such premises, the Revenue Commissioners shall, immediately upon such cesser coming to their knowledge, remove the said premises from the register of bookmaking offices.

• (2) Whenever a number of persons are registered in the register of bookmaking offices as joint registered proprietors of any registered premises and all such persons cease to be proprietors of such premises, the Revenue Commissioners shall immediately upon such cesser coming to their knowledge, remove the said premises from the register of bookmaking offices.

• (3) Whenever a number of persons are registered in the register of bookmaking offices as joint registered proprietors of any registered premises and all or any one or more of such persons cease or ceases to be licensed bookmakers or a licensed bookmaker, the Revenue Commissioners shall, immediately upon such cesser coming to their knowledge, remove the said premises from the register of bookmaking offices.

• (4) Whenever any registered premises are removed from the register of bookmaking premises by the Revenue Commissioners under this section or pursuant to a direction of the court, the person who was the registered proprietor of such premises immediately before such removal shall on demand in writing delivered at or sent by post to such premises deliver or send to the Revenue Commissioners the latest certificate of the registration or renewal of registration of such premises and every such person who fails so to deliver or send such certificate within seven days after such demand shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of twenty pounds.

14 Provisions as to joint registered proprietors.

14.—(1) Two or more licensed bookmakers may be registered in the register of bookmaking offices as joint proprietors of any premises registered in that register.

• (2) Whenever a licensed bookmaker becomes a proprietor jointly with the registered proprietor or proprietors, of any registered premises, the Revenue Commissioners shall, on proof to their satisfaction of the facts and of the consent of the registered proprietor or proprietors, enter such licensed bookmaker in the register of bookmaking offices as a registered proprietor of the said premises jointly with the person or persons already registered as such proprietor or proprietors.

• (3) Whenever one of the several joint registered proprietors of any registered premises ceases to be one of the proprietors of such premises the Revenue Commissioners shall, on proof to their satisfaction of the facts and of the consent of the other registered proprietors or proprietor, remove the name of the first-mentioned registered proprietor from the portion of the register of book-making offices which relates to such premises.

15 Business permitted in registered premises.

15.—(1) It shall be lawful for the registered proprietor of any registered premises, so long as he continues to be a licensed book-maker, to carry on in such premises the business of bookmaking subject, to the provisions of this Act.

• (2) No person except the registered proprietor of the premises shall carry on any trade, profession, or business whatsoever on any registered premises.

• (3) The registered proprietor of any registered premises shall not carry on nor permit to be carried on in such premises nor permit such premises to be used for the purpose of carrying on any trade, profession or business whatsoever save and except only the business of bookmaking carried on by the registered proprietor.

• (4) The registered proprietor of any registered premises shall not set up or maintain in such premises any attraction (other than the mere carrying on of his business of bookmaking) which causes or induces or is likely to cause or induce persons to congregate in or outside such premises.

• (5) The Betting Houses Act, 1853, shall not apply to registered premises.

• (6) Every person who carries on or permits to be carried on in any registered premises or permits any registered premises to be used for carrying on any trade, profession, or business in contravention of this section or sets up or maintains in any registered premises any attraction in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of one hundred pounds.

16 Hours of business in registered premises.

16.—(1) Registered premises shall not be opened or kept open for the transaction of business at any time on any Sunday, Christmas Day, or Good Friday, nor before the hour of nine o'clock in the morning nor after the hour of six o'clock in the afternoon on any other day.

• (2) If and whenever any registered premises are opened or kept open in contravention of this section the registered proprietor of such premises shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of fifty pounds.

17 Display of certificate of registration.

17.—(1) The registered proprietor of any registered premises shall cause the certificate of registration or, where such registration has been renewed, the latest certificate of renewal of registration of those premises to be displayed prominently in the said premises at all times during which such premises are open for the transaction of business.

• (2) Every registered proprietor who fails to comply with this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of ten pounds together with, in the case of a continuing offence, a further excise penalty of ten pounds for every day during which the offence continues.

18 Production of bookmaker's licences on demand.

18.—(1) Any officer of customs and excise or any member of the Gárda Síochána may demand of any person whom he observes to be engaged in or carrying on the business of bookmaking the production of his bookmaker's licence, and if such person refuses or fails to produce such licence, or if such person produces such licence but refuses or fails to permit such officer or member to read and examine such licence he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

• (2) Whenever any person of whom the production of his bookmaker's licence is lawfully demanded under this section refuses or fails to produce such licence or produces such licence but fails or refuses to permit the officer of customs and excise or the member of the Gárda Síochána making the demand to read and examine such licence, such officer or member may demand of such person his name and address and if such person refuses or fails to give his name or fails or refuses to give his address or gives a name or an address which is false or misleading he shall be guilty of an offence under this section.

• (3) Any member of the Gárda Síochána may arrest without warrant—

• (a) any person who, when the production of his bookmaker's licence is lawfully demanded of him under this section, refuses or fails to produce such licence or produces such licence but refuses or fails to permit the officer of customs and excise or the member of the Gárda Síochána making the demand to read and examine such licence, or

• (b) any person who, when his name and address is lawfully demanded of him under this section, refuses or fails to give his name or refuses or fails to give his address or gives a name or an address which is known to the officer of customs and excise or the member of the Gárda Síochána making the demand to be false or misleading.

• (4) Any person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of twenty pounds.

• (5) A person, who when the production of his bookmaker's licence is lawfully demanded of him under this section, does not produce such licence because he is not a licensed bookmaker shall be deemed to fail to produce his bookmaker's licence within the meaning of this section.

19 Powers of entry and investigation.

19.—(1) Any officer of customs and excise or any member of the Gárda Síochána may enter any registered premises at any time during which such premises are or suspected by such officer or member of being open for the transaction of any business, and may there make such searches and investigations as such officer or member shall think proper and may ask of any person found in such premises such questions in relation to the said premises and the business carried on therein as such officer or member shall think proper.

• (2) Any officer of customs and excise may at any time enter any premises (not being registered premises) in which the business of bookmaking is or is suspected by such officer to be carried on and may there make such searches and investigations as such officer shall think proper and may demand of any person found in such premises his name and address and may ask of any such person such questions in relation to such premises and the business carried on therein as such officer shall think proper.

• (3) Every person who shall do any of the following things, that is to say:—

• (a) obstruct or impede any officer of customs and excise or any member of the Gárda Síochána in the exercise of any of the powers conferred on such officer or member by this section, or

• (b) fail or refuse to answer to the best of his knowledge and ability any question asked of him by any such officer or member in exercise of a power in that behalf conferred by this section, or

• (c) give an answer to any such question which is to his knowledge false or misleading, or

• (d) when his name or his address is demanded of him by any such officer in exercise of a power in that behalf conferred by this section, fail or refuse to give his name, or fail or refuse to give his address, or give a name or an address which is false or misleading,

shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of twenty pounds.

20 Saving for persons employed by bookmakers.

20.—(1) A person shall not be deemed for the purposes of this Act to act or carry on business as a bookmaker merely by reason of his being employed by a licensed bookmaker to act as his clerk or assistant provided such person only acts as such clerk or assistant either in registered premises of which such licensed bookmaker is the registered proprietor or in the personal presence of such licensed bookmaker and the amount of such person's remuneration is not wholly or partly dependent on or calculated by reference to the amount of business done or profits made by such licensed bookmaker.

• (2) It shall be lawful for the registered proprietor of registered premises to employ in those premises such clerks and assistants as shall be reasonably necessary for the carrying on of his business as a bookmaker in the said premises provided the amount of the respective remunerations of such clerks and assistants is not wholly or partly dependent on or calculated by reference to the amount of business done or profits made by such licensed bookmaker.

• (3) A person who is employed by the registered proprietor of registered premises as a clerk or assistant in those premises and whose employment as such clerk or assistant is lawful under the foregoing sub-section shall not be deemed for the purposes of this Act to act or carry on business as a bookmaker merely by reason of his acting as such clerk or assistant.

21 Prohibition of betting with persons outside Saorstát Eireann.

21.—(1) It shall not be lawful for any person while in Saorstát Eireann to make or enter into or attempt to make or enter into a bet with a person who is then outside Saorstát Eireann or to employ, commission, or instruct or attempt to employ, commission, or instruct any person who is for the time being outside Saorstát Eireann to make or enter into a bet for him or on his behalf.

• (2) Every person who makes or enters into or attempts to make or enter into a bet in contravention of this section or who employs, commissions, or instructs any person to make or enter into a bet in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of one hundred pounds.

22 Powers of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.

22.—(1) The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs may detain any postal packet suspected to contain a communication to which this section applies and shall forward every postal packet so detained to the Revenue Commissioners and those Commissioners may open and examine the packet, and if they find therein any communication to which this section applies may detain the packet and its contents for the purpose of prosecution, and if they find no such communication therein shall forward the packet and its contents by post to the person to whom it was addressed.

• (2) Whenever the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs receives for transmission by telegraph a message which appears to be a communication to which this section applies, he may send to the Revenue Commissioners a copy of such message and such information in regard thereto as he shall think fit to send or the Revenue Commissioners may ask for.

• (3) The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs may after consultation with the Revenue Commissioners make regulations for the exercise of the powers and the performance of the duties conferred or imposed on him by this section.

• (4) This section applies to every communication from a person in Saorstát Eireann (hereinafter called the sender) to a person outside Saorstát Eireann (hereinafter called the addressee) by which the sender purports either on his own behalf or on behalf of another person to make or enter into a bet with the addressee or by which the sender purports to employ, commission, or instruct the addressee to make or enter into a bet for or on behalf of the sender or any other person.

• (5) This section in so far as it relates to postal packets shall be read and construed together with the Post Office Acts, 1908 to 1920 and in so far as it relates to telegrams shall be read and construed as one with the Telegraph Acts, 1863 to 1920.

23 Prohibition of unlicensed totalisators.

23.—(1) Subject to the exceptions hereinafter mentioned, it shall not be lawful for any person to set up, maintain, or work a totalisator save in so far and in such manner as such setting up, maintenance and working is authorised by a licence in that behalf granted under this Act.

• (2) Every person who sets up, maintains, or works a totalisator in contravention of this section shall be guilty of an offence under this section and shall be liable on summary conviction thereof to an excise penalty of five hundred pounds.

• (3) This section shall not apply to any totalisator set up, maintained, and worked by the Revenue Commissioners under an authority in that behalf conferred on them by the Minister under this Act.

24 Grant of totalisator licences.

24.—(1) The Minister may if and whenever he thinks fit grant to such persons as he thinks fit licences (in this Act referred to as totalisator licences) to set up, maintain, and work totalisators, and every such licence shall operate to authorise the person to whom it is granted (who shall be named in the licence) to set up, maintain, and work a totalisator at the place and on the occasion or occasions or during the period specified therein but subject to the conditions, restrictions, and regulations stated in or, by virtue of this Act, incorporated with the licence.

• (2) The Minister may charge for the grant of any totalisator licence such sum or sums as he shall think fit to charge in respect of such licence, and the sum or sums so charged may be either a single payment or a series of periodical payments and may be either of fixed or of variable amount and in the latter case may be calculated by reference to the sums staked by means of the totalisator to which the licence relates.

• (3) A totalisator licence may be granted in respect of any one or more specified places or in respect of all places of one or more specified classes or descriptions in Saorstát Eireann or any specified part of Saorstát Eireann and may be granted for one or more specified occasions or for all occasions of one or more specified classes or descriptions occurring during a specified period as the Minister shall think fit.

• (4) The Minister may attach such restrictions and conditions as he shall think fit to each totalisator licence granted by him.

25 Totalisators set up by Revenue Commissioners.

25.—(1) The Minister may authorise the Revenue Commissioners to set up, maintain and work a totalisator in such places and on such occasions as he shall think fit or, if the Minister so thinks fit, in such place and on such occasions as the Revenue Commissioners shall with the consent of the Minister think fit.

• (2) This section shall not authorise the setting up of a totalisator in any place without the consent of the person who owns or has control of the use of or admission to such place.

26 Disposal of totalisator fees and profits.

26.—All fees paid on the grant of totalisator licences under this Act and all profits derived from the working of totalisators by the Revenue Commissioners under this Act shall be paid into or disposed for the benefit of the Exchequer in such manner as the Minister for Finance shall direct.

27 Regulations in regard to totalisators.

27.—(1) The Minister may by order make regulations for controlling and regulating the setting up, maintenance, and working of totalisators under totalisator licences, and every such regulation shall be deemed to be incorporated with every totalisator licence which is in force while such regulation is in force.

• (2) The Minister may by order make regulations for regulating and controlling the working of totalisators set up by the Revenue Commissioners under this Act and the use of such totalisators by the public or the members of the public having access to the places in which such totalisators are set up.

• (3) Any regulation made under this section may provide that any contravention or breach thereof shall be an offence triable summarily and may prescribe the penalty or the maximum penalty which may be inflicted on persons found guilty on summary conviction of such offence and may also provide that such penalty shall be an excise penalty.

28 Regulations.

28.—(1) The Minister for Finance may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing relating to the Revenue Commissioners which is in this Act referred to as prescribed or to be prescribed.

• (2) The Minister for Justice may by order make regulations prescribing any matter or thing relating to members of the Gárda Síochána or the District Court which is in this Act referred to as prescribed or to be prescribed.

29 Expenses.

29.—All expenses incurred in carrying this Act into execution shall to such extent as may be sanctioned by the Minister for Finance, be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.

30 Short title, commencement, and duration.

30.—This Act may be cited as the Betting Act, 1926, and shall come into operation on the 1st day of November, 1926, and shall, continue in force for two years from that date and shall then expire.