Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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204. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the total number and value of unclaimed prizes from the national lottery in each of the past six years to date; the degree to which such unclaimed prizes revert to the Exchequer and-or to the lottery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10782/23]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The amount of Expired Unclaimed Prizes for which audited accounts are available in each of the past six years was as follows:

€

2021 17,054,620

2020 17,026,536

2019 18,993,483

2018 18,922,846

2017 16,164,125

2016 16,359,564

No amount of Expired Unclaimed Prizes has reverted to the Exchequer. The total amount of Expired Unclaimed Prizes in each year has, as prescribed in the Licence, reverted to (and been forfeited in favour of) the Operator of the National Lottery to be used solely for the promotion of the National Lottery within 365 days of forfeiture.

The number of expired unclaimed prizes per year is not available. Scratch card information specifically is subject to tight security protocols so that winning tickets cannot be identified by any personnel and so the number of individual winning scratch card tickets that were sold but not claimed is not recorded.

The regulatory focus is on the value of unclaimed prizes; the proportion of unclaimed prizes; any top prizes or high value prizes that are nearing expiration or actually expired; and, of course, that the expired unclaimed prizes are spent solely on promoting the National Lottery. In the case of higher value prizes, the Regulator ensures that PLI launches a public campaign to find the winner prior to the prize expiring.