Frank Feighan (Fine Gael)

I call on the Minister to intervene in the current lotto dispute. The National Lottery is downgrading up to 60 lotto terminals most of which are in rural areas. This will be a blow to the viability of these areas. My family business is a newsagents in Boyle, County Roscommon. I am a lotto agent and have first hand knowledge of how important it is for people to be able to choose their lucky numbers, such as wedding dates, birthdays, etc. My own lotto business is not at risk. It is one of the busiest in rural Ireland. It is also very lucky in that we have had three or four lotto wins.

I am making representations on behalf of people who live in rural areas in my constituency and elsewhere who want the right to choose their lotto numbers. As a result of many lotto machines being downgraded, they do not have that right, unlike citizens in towns and cities, although as citizens in rural areas, they should have the same right. They are being denied the chance to choose their numbers. It is a further erosion of the quality of life in rural Ireland. Another result of these machines being downgraded is that lotto syndicates in pubs, clubs and schools will have to travel up to eight or ten miles to larger areas to play their numbers.

The Minister for Finance loves a flutter but is denying people in rural areas the chance to choose their lotto numbers. If the National Lottery proceeds with this disastrous downgrading which discriminates against rural areas, it will have to change its name to "The National Lottery – Almost Nationwide". Will the Minister intervene because instead of a win-win situation, it is a lose-lose situation for rural Ireland? This disastrous decision must be reversed.