Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2018
107. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Finance the procedure for prize bond draws; the location where they take place; the regularity with which they are run; the person or body that conducts the draw; if they are independently observed; if there is scope to have the draws publicised similar to the national lottery; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12758/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI am informed by the NTMA that Prize Bond draws are held by the Prize Bond Company in a controlled access environment in the GPO. A representative of the NTMA acts as independent observer on each occasion.
The draws usually take place on a Friday. A draw is held, at a minimum, in respect of each week of a calendar year.
The procedure for the selection of Prize Bonds to be awarded prizes in a draw is as follows. The Prize Bond draw is conducted using a computer based, software-driven, random number generation system (the "system"). In conducting the draw, the system generates a random series of numbers in the same format as a Prize Bond serial number. If the series of numbers that is generated includes any serial number for bonds that have already been encashed the system will automatically remove these numbers from the series. A Prize Bond can only win one prize in each weekly draw. Prizes are awarded to the bond serial numbers (in descending order of amount) in the order in which the bond serial numbers were generated. This means that the highest valued prize is awarded to the first Prize Bond in the series, the second highest valued prize to the second Prize Bond in the series and so on until all prizes are awarded.
Following each draw, the results of the Prize Bonds draw are publicised on the State Savings website (www.StateSavings.ie ) usually from 12:30 p.m. The Prize Bond Tracker function on the website allows holders of Prize Bonds to check if their bonds have won a prize. Details of the top eleven prize winning numbers are available at all Post Offices on the same day. The media are also informed of the main prizes.
Further details on Prize Bonds may be found in the Prize Bond FAQ section of the State Savings website, available here: https://www.statesavings.ie/Downloads/PrizeBondsFAQs.pdf.
