The prize limits for private and charitable lotteries are set under the provisions of the Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1956. In accordance with the provisions of that legislation, any changes in those limits would be a matter not for me but for the Minister for Justice. The impact of the national lottery, for which I have statutory responsibility, would be only one of many factors across the charities spectrum which would have to be taken into account by the Minister for Justice in any review of those limits.
As regards unclaimed national lottery prizes, the rules of the lottery, as approved by me, state that prizes must be claimed within 90 days of a lotto draw or of the announcement of the termination of an instant game and that these unclaimed prizes stay within the pool for allocation to future prizes pools. Accordingly, it would not be open to me to appropriate the unclaimed prizes which have accumulated to date. Any attempt to do so could possibly be open to legal challenge. Nor do I propose to change the rules for future games as it is considered there could be strong negative reaction from players resulting in reduced sales, to the ultimate detriment of the lottery surplus and the good causes it supports.
The overall operations of the national lottery, the purpose of which is to provide surplus revenue which can be allocated to the beneficiary fund, are kept under constant review.