Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 66: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will consider reallocating funds from the lottery fund to the Exchequer for a specific period of time so that it could be used to reduce public debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6416/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Section 5 of the National Lottery Act 1986 provides that the surplus from the National Lottery may be used for the following purposes: sport and other recreation; national culture, including the Irish language; the arts, within the meaning of the Arts Act 1951; the health of the community; and for such other purposes as the Government may determine. The following additional categories have been so determined: youth, welfare, national heritage and amenities. In order to give effect to this statutory provision, the surplus from the National Lottery is transferred to the Exchequer on a regular basis and is applied each year to part-fund the Exchequer allocations to a specified range of expenditure subheads across various Votes. Each year, the amount transferred to the Exchequer from the National Lottery surplus, together with details of the total Exchequer allocations to the relevant subheads, are set out in Appendix 1 of the annual "Revised Estimates for Public Services".

The allocation of funds from the National Lottery surplus towards the reduction of the public debt would require a change in legislation and it would also mean that Exchequer support for many programmes and projects would have to cease. It is not intended to pursue this approach.