Mr. Andrew Algeo:

Under the terms of the licence that was tendered, the unclaimed prizes are used solely for the purpose of promoting the national lottery.

The effect of promoting the national lottery is to generate ticket sales that then go to generating prizes, money for good causes, retailer commission and funds for PLI to cover the operating costs of running the national lottery as well as return on investment. As the Deputy noted, the quantity of unclaimed prizes was €17 million in 2020. That is actually a reduction on the previous year and the year before that. It has been going down. In 2020, it was less than 2% of sales for the first time.