Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We have not privatised the national lottery. After the end of the year it will be run by a consortium which includes An Post, the organisation which has always run it and a prime mover in the consortium. The Deputy is right on the issue of transparency. We need to know where the lotto money is going and this is done. We need to have even more transparency and I am happy to address the issue. We know that all of the money is expended on the right things and we want to generate as big a surplus as we can. This year it will be approximately €200 million, in line with the figure in recent years. We top it up to support specific areas in which very important works are undertaken, particularly in recent years when they were under pressure. Nobody who buys a lotto ticket would begrudge elderly people mobility aid grants, ramps or other aids in being a beneficiary of their taking a punt.

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