Ms Tara Buckley:

I thank the Chairman for the opportunity to speak to the committee. At the outset I think it is important to put on the record that RGDATA members are and always have been very strong supporters of the national lottery in Ireland. Our members are the owners of around 4,000 shops, convenience stores, forecourt stores and supermarkets, the majority of which are national lottery agents. They have helped to build the national lottery to the successful national brand that it is today. The partnership with the national lottery is important to our members' businesses. The presence of a national lottery terminal and scratch card games in a shop helps attract footfall and encourages customers to the premises. In addition, as owners of businesses that are rooted in their communities, our members recognise that the national lottery plays and important role in contributing to good causes locally and, as community-based retailers, local shop owners also share in the development and support of community facilities established with national lottery funding.

My members operate in a fast, demanding and extremely competitive and customer-focused environment. They are used to change and innovation and work hard to ensure that their customers are satisfied with the service that they receive. They work hard to get customers into their shops and try to ensure that they have a pleasant shopping experience each time. My members are also adept at embracing new technology and are happy to work with suppliers to ensure that the latest systems are introduced and applied effectively and efficiently.

When the Government announced that it was preparing to sell the national lottery licence, RGDATA campaigned to ensure that the retail agents' margin was ring-fenced in any licence agreement. I am happy to say that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and many Members of this House supported us in this cause and the Minister recognised the importance that the modest margin made to local shops and he agreed to our request.

When Premier Lotteries Ireland, the new operator of the national lottery, was appointed, retailers were ready and prepared to work with it to ensure that the fine reputation of the national lottery established over 29 years was maintained and grown. They have been willing to embrace new technology and have been assured that the new operator was committed to the retail channel and would be investing in in-store service for retail agents and the many lotto customers who like to purchase national lottery products in shops.

There were indications of some teething problems around the end of 2014 when the new ticket terminals went live. Retailers were generally prepared to be patient with the operator to see if these problems could be resolved. However, the scale of the problems that have emerged since have been significant and the initial response of the national lottery to address these genuine problems raised by retailers was poor. Earlier this year when RGDATA circulated the results of a members' survey that clearly highlighted retailers' concerns, instead of accepting the deficiencies in the service and addressing them in an upfront fashion, the national lottery seemed to be more interested in denying the problems and shooting the messenger.

I am happy to say that situation has changed and a lot has been done since then. We believe we need to work hard together to restore customer confidence.

What lies at the core of the retailer frustration in regard to the national lottery is some very poor communication by the lottery with both retailers and customers. This poor communication has compounded and fuelled dissatisfaction over repeated technical issues that have emerged and led to a lack of confidence on the part of retailers about the new operator's approach to customer service and technical competence. We want to rebuild that confidence.

I want to give the joint committee a flavour of what RGDATA members have been saying about the national lottery. This is from the full gamut of RGDATA members who cover symbol group stores and independent, non-aligned retailers. All of our members have experienced technical issues with the new terminals. These include problems with the operation of the new machines, the sensitivity of the scanning system, and the system constantly freezing and having to be rebooted.

They have also had complaints from customers about the new playslips being difficult to read. Retailers have complained about the surface on some of the scratch cards that the scanner will not read. The absence of self-service ticket checkers has proven to be a significant irritation both to lotto customers and retail agents. It means that customers are unable to check if they have a winning ticket and are dependent on the retailer to scan the ticket. When the retailer's scanner is not working this leads to real customer frustration, queues and anger. Retailers are getting the blame for these queues and delays, not the national lottery. One retailer was told by a customer that if he paid his Internet bills on time he would not get cut off.

There have also been problems with outages with the services. There have been a number of outages with the ticket terminals, where machines have crashed for significant periods of time. As members of the committee know, this led in one instance to the postponement of a national lottery draw for the first time. Even yesterday, members we spoke to said they were still experiencing stoppages and having to reboot terminals.

We have also received complaints about plasma screens that are not working. These big, 42-inch plasma screens are in a prominent position by the till to advertise new draws, big jackpots and provide countdowns to draws. For example, a screen in one member's shop in Kerry has been out of commission since last November. He is obviously frustrated at the lack of response to his telephone calls to the national lottery asking it to deal with the issue. Another member in Cork says his screen is down and there is no word on when it will be back in service.

We have also had complaints about poor customer service and responsiveness. My understanding is that may be improving but I am telling the committee about the experience of retailers since the changeover occurred. RGDATA members who have contacted the national lottery customer service desk by telephone have been frustrated by calls ringing out, no call-backs, and inadequate information being provided to retailers. We will be seeking reassurances that the national lottery has staffed up the customer service line and will be dealing with these issues.

Another issue that has arisen for our members-----