Results 8,101-8,120 of 20,068 for speaker:Brian Stanley

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: At that point, it would not have been appropriate given that interest rates, even on short-term loans, were not 9%. This is the point I am trying to make here. Was Mr. Murphy in the company in 2014?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Does anybody know why this was done?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Can we just find out? The outworkings of this are that almost €25 million in interest was paid to related parties in 2020. Is that correct? To be exact, €24.7 million was paid in interest to related parties in that year.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: They are also receiving 9% interest on the loan.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Whatever way it goes, it is money in the bank. Along with what Mr. Algeo has outlined regarding what the parties are receiving annually, there is also this interest payment on the loans. In 2020, that was €24.7 million. I would count that as a very good return. A lot of people with money on deposit would love to know where they could get 9% interest. It would seem to me to be...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: It increases the transfer of cash, though. Let us not beat around the bush with this. It increases the transfer of cash from Premier Lotteries Ireland and the lottery system to the parent company in the form of this 9% interest rate. Mr. Algeo has not clarified whether he believes this to be an extraordinarily high rate. Anyone who has any knowledge of basic economics would look at this...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: I am telling Mr. Algeo it is extraordinary. I am not a qualified financial adviser but based on common sense, why would I take out a loan at 9% if I could get one for 1%, 2% or 3%? This is a relatively long-term loan. It is an extraordinary transfer of cash that seems to be happening along with the dividends that are being paid. This seems to be an extraordinary transfer, which seems to...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: That is okay. The advertisement make the claim over and over again that "90% of National Lottery sales [are] returned to communities". I looked at this, starting off with the ticket sales. We took the year 2021 and also looked back over a number of years. What actually goes back into good causes works out between 27% and 28.5%. In 2021, the national lottery had ticket sales of more than...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: The regulator is funded by €1.5 million and the operator gets €103 million. I have asked members of the public what they believe that means. I do not claim this is scientific but I asked people locally what they thought about the 90% claim and they took it to mean that 90% of all money from ticket sales goes into the community and good causes, as in various environmental,...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: PLI is including prize winners and retailers, that is, the supermarkets or wherever the tickets are sold. In my innocence, from the way the advertising is pitched, I took it to mean that 90% was going to community groups and various projects. That is what I believed until recently. I would not take that much interest in the matter but I was surprised to find, when we got the figures and...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: If he accepts that, does Mr. Algeo not think that the advertising should be changed?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: It is a very broad interpretation and I find it misleading. I do not claim it was scientific but I asked a number of people who play the lottery what they thought the claim in the advertising that 90% of the proceeds from ticket sales goes to the community meant. They told me they thought it went to local organisations, sports clubs, environmental projects and so on. Is Mr. Algeo aware...

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: I hear complaints from people who play the lottery that since the two extra balls were introduced, it has become much harder to win and there are far fewer winners. Whose idea was it to add the extra balls? Was that the lottery's, the regulator's or some research company's idea?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Okay. I was anxious to know where that idea came from. When the prize went to €19 million because the jackpot had not been won, it had rolled over 51 times. That is an extraordinary amount. The public was getting a bit annoyed, to put it mildly. A decision was taken to change and put a limit on it. Was €19 million the must-win limit?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: What is the maximum limit?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: It can roll over five more times and does not have to be won the following week.

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Did the decision to limit the prize fund come from the company?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: Did the company think there was a credibility issue at that point?

Public Accounts Committee: 2021 Report on the Accounts of the Public Services of the Comptroller and Auditor General
Chapter 19 - Exchequer receipts from National Lottery ticket sales (8 Dec 2022)

Brian Stanley: I can say the excitement went out of it after about 20 or 30 weeks. People were not as excited then. There was a lot of frustration. I picked it up and I do not take much interest in these matters because I am not a gambler, or my gambling is extremely limited. There was a credibility issue with the public. Did the company pick that up?