Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The delegation is very welcome. There is a perception that cash winnings are down and some people feel there is a policy of increasing prices and reducing prizes. The genesis of this belief lies somewhere and needs to be dealt with. Has the ratio of profits to sales changed? The State has a valuable asset here and PLI has a lease on it for 20 years. There is a concern that its value should not diminish and that it be dealt with in a way that retains its value for the State because 20 years in the lifetime of the State is nothing. I do not want to see the national lottery becoming worthless. While we have heard a lot of comforting words, there have been outages. People paid a lot of money to get this right and it is not good enough. I hate to sound over-critical but it should not happen. Could Mr. Griffin tell me about the ratio of profit to sales?

According to PLI's figures, the national lottery has given €4.5 billion to good causes over 28 years.

This works out at €160 million a year, 65%, that goes to good causes. Roughly speaking, that then brings it down to €86 million. Taking account of the cost of servicing the purchase price of roughly €25 million a year, PLI, Premier Lotteries Ireland, is down to €50 million a year for operating expenses and profit.

Is the money that is being projected in these figures being leveraged by PLI and others against different businesses and borrowings? Is there pressure to ensure this fund is kept in place? We have a responsibility to the State to make sure this asset is returned to us in several years and will be of value to the people.