Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) claims that a regulatory gap exists between the Irish National Lottery and licensed bookmakers due to the latter offering bets on lottery draws.
The FDJ United-owned operator is calling for the government to ban bookmakers from taking bets on lottery draws, arguing that the practice diverts potential sales and funds from the lottery.
Irish lottery claims €289m losses
PLI made its case to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) in its recently published ‘Socio-Economic Impact Assessment of the National Lottery’.
The report included an entire segment delving into the impact of lottery betting on the lottery’s revenue and returns to good causes. In this segment, PLI asserts that €289m (£250m) in National Lottery sales was lost in 2024 alone as a result of lottery betting at licensed bookmakers.
PLI’s calls for policy change are the latest to reach the Irish government just two years after the passage of the Gambling Regulation Act into law, creating a new authority for the betting and gaming sector, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI).
“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,” said Cian Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of the National Lottery.
“The National Lottery plays a vital role in funding Good Causes, supporting thousands of jobs, and driving economic activity across communities nationwide.
“Lottery betting in bookmakers is a very real risk to this ecosystem, reducing the funds available for local sports clubs, youth centres, arts programmes, and community services.”
Irish good cause returns down €81m, says PLI
Understandably, PLI’s report has focused heavily on the impact of lottery betting on returns to good causes – which, like any state-backed lottery, is a central function of Irish National Lottery and its 10 year contract.
The report, penned by Indecon International Economic and Strategic Consultants, estimates that around €81m was lost in good causes donations due to lottery betting in 2024, with an average of €63m per year between 2021-2024.
This is based on the estimation that around 28% of National Lottery sales income was spent on good causes in 2024 – €239.3m out of €853m. PLI and Indecon applied this 28% figure to the total estimated value of lost lottery sales of €289.7m.
“The charity and voluntary sector depend heavily on reliable annual funding to sustain and develop its services,” said Aine Myler, CEO of Charities Institute Ireland (CII).
“The National Lottery Good Causes Fund plays a vital role in supporting a wide range of organisations in the sports, arts, heritage, youth, community, and health sectors.
“CII has made numerous representations to government for this change to be implemented and so we now urge the Minister again to address this issue. There is a clear public policy case for measures that protect National Lottery funding and the communities that rely on it.”
PLI makes macro-economic case
PLI’s Murphy added that the operator considers itself to have a ‘responsibility to protect the National Lottery’s long-term value’, including protecting it against loss of revenue to betting operators.
“Given the scale of these impacts, we have no option but to request relevant action by the Government on the issue in the interests of preserving the current levels of funding for Good Causes, safeguarding players and ensuring that the National Lottery, as a State asset, will continue to be an attractive investment and provide real returns for the State when the licence is up for renewal in eight years’ time.”
The firm has based its case not just on the impact to its own revenues and returns to good causes, but also on a perceived wider economic impact. It believes that retailers lost commission amounting to £12m in 2024, out of a total of $132m lost from wider retail sales.
This impact extends to jobs, with PLI estimating that “1,219 fewer jobs are supported due to the presence of lottery betting’. This in turn extends to a wider economic impact for the Irish state, amounting to a loss of €5m in exchequer revenue according to PLI.
Tara Buckley, Director General of the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Trades Association (RGDATA), said: “Retailers can see the real difference that Good Causes funding makes to clubs and organisations, usually volunteer-led, within their local areas.
“It is important that the government acts now to protect Good Causes funding and to prevent the National Lottery being increasingly undermined by lottery betting. Ireland should stop being an outlier in Europe and move now to ban lottery betting.”
PLI not the only one making its case
As alluded to by RGDATA’s Buckley, the plea made by PLI and its charity and retail compatriots to the Irish government is partly based on comparisons with other European nations.
The trio observed that 25 out of 27 European Union countries, as well as the UK, make a distinction between the National Lottery and betting and casino operators in their regulatory frameworks.
In the UK, for example, operators are not allowed to offer bets on National Lottery draws – although they can bet on Irish and Spanish lottery draws in many retail and online bookmakers such as Paddy Power, Betfred and Coral, to name a couple of examples.
Back in Ireland, PLI’s request to the Irish government shows that some dissatisfaction remains with Ireland’s new regulatory framework, from various quarters. Advocates for gambling reform, like the Labour Party for example, want to see further change around advertising regulations.
With the Irish betting sector facing similar challenges to other markets – such as a continuing decline for retail betting, although with the major exception of taxation – Irish bookmakers may lobby back against calls for an end to lottery betting.
SBC News has reached out to the Irish Bookmakers’ Association (IBA) for comment.
