Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. This has been going on for some months. Some points have been made but I wish to highlight additional information and facts. Going back a little before we go forward, the national lottery licence was sold in 2013 for 20 years. It was sold in the context of the market conditions at the time. Since then, it was changed from 45 numbers to 47, further reducing the chance to win. The addition of two numbers meant that the odds of picking all six numbers reduced from 8 million to one to 11 million to one. That is a huge decrease. No doubt that was a factor in it not being won for well over six months last year.

The millionaire raffle is another example of how consumers are worse off under the private operators who took over the lottery. The Easter millionaire raffle in 2013 had a maximum of 180,000 tickets sold at €20 per ticket. The Christmas 2022 had a maximum of 500,000 tickets sold at €25 per ticket. The revenue 2013 was around €3.6 million of which €1.7 million was returned in prizes. In 2022 it was €12 million revenue of which €2.1 million was returned in prizes. You do not need to be a mathematician to understand that. It is an incredible and unjustified increase by any stretch. It is simply greed because the operator can do this and there is no competition.My understanding from my research is restrictions that stopped the lotto from operating online were removed as part of the sale. Immediately after the licence takeover, scratch cards that cost €10 and €20 were added. These can also be purchased online, which I believe is a dangerous trend. In 2020, following an investigation, the national lottery regulator found the operator had breached three provisions of the National Lottery Act 2013, as well as its licence with the State, by omitting top prizes totalling €180,000 from three scratch card games, one of which was held in 2015 while two others were held in 2019.

At the time this licence was sold, bookmakers were operating in these markets as they have done for decades. It is problematic that the State would now intervene to alter the landscape for private operators that both provide gambling products to, in effect, create a monopoly in favour of one operator. I find it even more problematic that it would be done in favour of a private operator in areas where it currently has a complete monopoly, such as, for example, the millionaire raffle. It just does not seem correct. It must be noted that until 2033, the lottery will be majority owned by a Canadian investment firm that is making large profits and has paid hundreds of millions in dividends since gaining this licence. Many people like the option of doing fewer numbers in the bookmakers to increase their chances to win at a much lower price, especially since the operators of the lotto increased the minimum play by 33% following the takeover, with the minimum cost rising to €4 from €3, as the Minister of State will be aware.

I would like balance but what is being suggested is the State should intervene in the market between private operators that both offer gambling products, thereby creating a monopoly for one and removing the option for people who wish to gamble on the lotto at a much lower cost with fewer numbers. It is a suggestion that should be considered very cautiously.