The operator of the National Lottery has rejected suggestions that it is “taking the p*ss” in spending almost all of the €124 million in unclaimed prizes on advertising.
Andrew Algeo, CEO of Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI), said it meant that money was not taken from good causes to fund marketing.
Last month, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard that €124m in prizes was left unclaimed between 2015 and 2021.
The lottery spent €122m of it almost entirely on advertising. Only 2%, around €2m, went back to players by topping-up prizes.
Several committee members today expressed concern that if the Comptroller and Auditor General had not revealed these figures, then they would not have become public.
“In fairness, you’re taking the p*ss, really, in terms of what you’re giving towards top-up prizes,” Sinn Féin TD Matt Carthy said.
“You are going to the absolutely bare minimum,” he added.
Mr Algeo said that PLI takes the matter very seriously, having earlier acknowledged that people might be “irked” at the marketing spend.
While accepting that PLI made the decision on how to use the unclaimed prize money, he said that they are “a small part of the National Lottery”.
The proportion of prizes which are unclaimed has fallen from 5.1% in 2015 to 2.9% last year, he added.
PLI holds a 20-year contract which will see it running the lottery until 2034.
Mr Algeo insisted that the lottery is operating in an “intensely competitive market”, and pointed to consistent growth in ticket sales, rather than the decline seen before PLI had taken over.
Eighty percent of adults play Lotto, he said.
He also revealed that, after the lottery regulator appeared before the PAC last month, the Advertising Standards Authority contacted PLI.
Lottery operator defends unclaimed prizes spend on ads
Source: Viral Trends Report
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