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Because licensed bookmakers place wagers on lottery drawings, Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) assumes that there is a regulatory breach between the Irish National Lottery and these businesses. The operator, which is owned by FDJ United, is requesting that the government forbid bookmakers from accepting wagers on lottery drawings, claiming that this activity takes money and sales away from the lottery.
The Irish lottery reports losses of €289 million
In its recently released “Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of the National Lottery,” PLI presented its case to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER). A significant section of the paper reviewed how lottery betting affects the lottery’s earnings and donations to charitable organisations. In this section, PLI claims that lottery betting at authorised bookmakers cost the National Lottery €289 million (£250 million) in sales in 2024 alone.
Just two years after the Gambling Regulation Act was passed into law, establishing the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) as a new regulatory body for the betting and gaming industry, PLI’s requests for policy changes are the most recent to reach the Irish government.
According to Cian Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of the National Lottery, “a significant number of people play for a chance to win a prize in a fun and regulated environment while contributing to very worthy causes.” “The National Lottery is essential for supporting thousands of jobs, promoting economic activity in local communities across the country, and funding good causes.”
According to PLI, Irish good cause returns are down €81 million
It makes sense that PLI’s research has placed a lot of attention on how lottery betting affects returns to charitable causes, given that this is a key component of the Irish National Lottery’s 10-year contract, just like any other state-backed lottery.
According to the paper, which was written by Indecon International Economic and Strategic Consultants, lottery betting cost charitable donations around €81 million in 2024, or €63 million annually on average between 2021 and 2024. This is predicated on the expectation that around 28% of National Lottery sales revenue,€239.3 million out of €853 million, was donated to charitable causes in 2024. PLI and Indecon applied this 28% number to the predicted €289.7 million in lost lottery sales.
PLI presents a macroeconomic argument
According to Murphy of PLI, the operator believes it has a “responsibility to protect the National Lottery’s long-term value,” which includes shielding it from losing money to betting providers. The company has based its argument on a perceived larger economic benefit in addition to the impact on its own revenues and returns to charitable causes. Out of a total of $132 million lost from broader retail sales, it estimates that merchants lost £12 million in commission in 2024.
According to PLI, “1,219 fewer jobs are supported due to the presence of lottery betting.” Based on that, this has a larger economic impact on the Irish state, resulting in a loss of €5 million in exchequer revenue. “Retailers can see the real difference that Good Causes funding makes to clubs and organisations, usually volunteer-led, within their local areas,” stated Tara Buckley, Director General of the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Trades Association (RGDATA).
PLI is not the only one arguing its position
Buckley of RGDATA mentioned that PLI and its retail and charitable counterparts’ appeal to the Irish government is based in part on comparisons with other European countries. The three noted that the legal frameworks of 25 of the 27 EU member states, including the UK, differentiate between the National Lottery and betting and casino companies.
For instance, operators in the UK are prohibited from placing bets on National Lottery draws, but they are permitted to do so on Irish and Spanish lottery draws at a number of retail and online bookmakers, including Paddy Power, Betfred, and Coral, to mention a few.
Irish bookmakers may oppose proposals to outlaw lottery betting because the country’s betting industry faces identical issues to those in other markets, such as an ongoing fall in retail betting, with an important exception of taxation.
Source: sbcnews.co.uk
