Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I find some of the Minister of State's arguments compelling. He is correct that if the State puts something out to tender, it must be advertised in Europe. There is no question of this. However, the Government does not have to put the national lottery to tender. There is no EU law which prevents the Government from operating it within a Department. EU procurement law is generally neutral on whether a state owns something. It could be decided to run it from within a Department without putting it out to tender.