Bernard Allen
Ceist:29 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Finance if he will investigate with the national lottery the full circumstances behind the sponsorship of the Pavarotti concert scheduled for 30 December 1991.
Written Answers. - National Lottery Funding.
There has been much public comment, and some confusion, about the national lottery company's involvement in the Pavarotti concert. What happened was that the lottery company simply bought 1,300 tickets at £100 each which it then made available to all the people of Ireland in a free postal draw. In addition, the company is making a contribution towards the promotional costs of the concert.
The costs of this promotion will come out of the budget made available to the lottery company for marketing and promotional activities. It is not coming out of the lottery surplus, which is used for the beneficiary spending programmes.
It is important that the national lottery company maintains a high profile so as to sustain and develop — in a socially responsible way — interest in the national lottery. The lottery company became involved in the Pavarotti concert because the event was seen as an appropriate and timely event to mark the end of the "Dublin 1991 — City of Culture" year. The promotion was generally well received by the public, some 126,000 of whom took part in the draw.