LET’S KEEP BOOKIES AWAY FROM LOTTERY
IHAVE the privilege of being a part of the National Lottery retail network. Over the years, post offices have sold hundreds of thousands of National Lottery products. This has been very helpful in keeping our doors open through recessions, Covid and other crises. Simply put, the National Lottery is a State asset that benefits society, and like the post office network, it needs to be protected.
Since 1987, it has generated over €6billion in funding for tens of thousands of charities, community groups and sporting bodies. It has created over 900 millionaires. It now supports a network of over 5,000 retail agents including significant numbers of post offices. Every week, this engine of giving, involving the National Lottery, its players, and retailers, generates about €5million for good causes.
However, this impact might have been even more significant. For the past quarter of a century, bookies have offered betting on the Lotto and Euromillions draws. This effectively takes money out of the prizes going to players, the funds going to charities, and the commission going to retailers. What’s even more galling is that bookies have used the National Lottery brand to attract people to participate in unregulated online and retail betting in what is called ‘lead-in’ risk.
Today, a Private Members’ Bill to outlaw this practice will be before the Seanad. If this practice were banned it would yield millions for players, charities, and retailers. And the bookies cannot say it will cost jobs because, due to the unregulated nature of the gambling industry, they will still be able to offer betting on virtual lotteries and other casino-type games available in both retail and online.
Most other EU countries have banned the practice to protect their lotteries for the following reasons: O First, it prevents ‘lead-in risk’ where, for example, those at risk are attracted into unregulated gambling by the National Lottery’s games. O Second, it prevents confusion between the National Lottery, which is regulated and State-owned, and those materially different gambling entities and their products that are unregulated. O Finally, it protects the National Lottery’s ability to generate funding for charities, sporting bodies and community groups.
Red C research for the National Lottery indicates that lottery betting could be generating as much as €570million a year, mainly for online bookmakers. If this practice is banned, this research estimates it would generate an extra €63million in funding for good causes and over €125million in prizes for players.
Most other European countries ban lottery betting – Ireland is an outlier in not doing so. At least 17 EU member states have legal restrictions on lottery betting, and the UK recently also banned betting on Euromillions, having never allowed betting on its own lottery.
The National Lottery is heavily regulated and intensively controlled with strong player protection. By contrast, commercial lottery betting is not subject to any such restrictions.
One of Ireland’s leading problem-gambling organisations, Extern Problem Gambling, has recently given its support to calls for a ban on lottery betting.
The organisation was reported as saying that ‘placing relatively harmless gambling products in environments where much more harmful gambling is occurring… increases the chance of someone using these draws as a gateway to more addictive forms of gambling.’
This Bill will stop bookies offering bets specifically on National Lottery draws and prevent them from expropriating Ireland’s National Lottery. It is worth noting that it will not preclude charities from running draws based on National Lottery results or bookmakers from offering bets on a myriad other events, including virtual lotteries, to their customers.
For retailers and charities struggling to cope with the fallout from Covid and the cost-of-living increase, this additional funding is critical.
‘Ireland is an outlier in not banning lottery betting’