Dublin South West TD, Seán Crowe, has called on Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI), the private company who now operate the Irish National Lottery, to release the accumulated value of unclaimed prizes since it took over running of the Lottery.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“As part of the privatisation of the Lottery, the new operator was allowed keep the unclaimed prizes to supposedly offset their projected cost base.

“This was a radical change from the previous regime where unclaimed prizes were actually put back into the prize pool for those who took part in the prize game.

“The fact that the government of the day signed up to a contract which allowed the new operator a substantial windfall to keep for themselves was and is absolute madness.

“It was a win-win for the company and a big loss for those who take part.

“To add to the injury the Government agreed a specific clause allowing the operator keep this data secret.  We don’t even know if the Regulator of the National Lottery even knows the figure.

“This is a rotten deal for consumers, where the punter no longer gets access to the unclaimed prizes and the Irish public no longer have the right to even know how much down the players are because there is a secrecy clause built in.

“The big question is what is there to hide? How much prize money cash is involved? And why is the Government continuing to facilitate the erosion of legitimate prize monies?”

ENDS