Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 November 2021
228. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the amount in unclaimed lotto prizes in each of the years 2016 to 2020 and to date in 2021; the duration of the contract and value of the contract of the independent auditor for the account in which these funds are held; the amount of interest that these funds generate; and the use that is made of accrued interest. [58223/21]
View answerThe National Lottery Regulator has informed me that the National Lottery Operator is required to have a standalone Prize Fund Account that all prize monies are held in and paid from. Where prizes expire unclaimed, the Licence governing the operation of the Lottery provides that the relevant amounts are transferred to the Operator, for use either to top up prizes, or for additional marketing of the Lottery. The bank account in which the Operator keeps such monies, and how much interest it earns or pays on these monies, is a private matter for the Operator. The Operator’s financial accounts are audited by its independent auditor.
The Regulator monitors the Prize Fund Account, and this includes monitoring the transfers of expired unclaimed prizes to the Operator. The Operator must then spend these monies in accordance with Clause 6.9.2 of the Licence. The Regulator also reviews the Operator’s expenditure in this regard and its compliance with the Licence.
The Regulator has provided a breakdown of expired unclaimed National Lottery prizes in each of the years 2016 to 2020 as follows:
|
Year |
Expired Unclaimed Prizes € |
|
2016 |
€16,359,564 |
|
2017 |
€16,164,125 |
|
2018 |
€18,922,846 |
|
2019 |
€18,993,483 |
|
2020 |
€17,026,536 |
The Regulator will receive information relevant to 2021 after the financial year end.
