Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 March 2015

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Operations and Functioning of National Lottery: Discussion

2:15 pm

Photo of Seán FlemingSeán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The public has not been able to check tickets in the ticket-checking machines in various retail outlets throughout the country. It reflected badly on the retailers and I can understand that from the witnesses' viewpoint. When somebody goes to a shop, having bought a national lottery ticket, and sees that the ticket-checking machine does not work, they begin to wonder about the retailer. They eventually realise, however, that it is not the retailer's fault. I sympathise with front-line staff who have taken unnecessary flak on behalf of the national lottery.

The reason we are here is that the Government decided to privatise the national lottery licence. It has been implied that some of these problems might not have happened under the former management regime when broadband was used.

I have a number of brief questions arising from the decision to raise money by privatising the licence. I know An Post has a 20% stake in the new franchise but it is very much a small player. Those who have studied the change will know that the problem has arisen because of the move from broadband to one that relies on wireless free service. To most people that sounds like a backwards not a forwards step. I propose to raise this issue with the national lottery operators when they come before the committee.

Will the witnesses outline the impact that has had on shops? We know that wireless free signal even in the long term is not always secure as local outages can easily happen. I also know that things can happen with broadband but the wireless free system is not as reliable as broadband.

The national lottery had a blemish-free record and I worry about its future record. Perhaps we are only seeing the tip of the icebergs in the problems that might arise. I know that the new equipment will be honky dory by the end of the month. We have been hearing that assurance for a while.

The witness have suggested that the move to the wireless free service may have been a cheaper option, and I am beginning to consider that was a reason for taking that route, but will they outline the implications of moving from a broadband connected service to a wireless free service?

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