Ireland investigates National Lottery anomaly

The Tanaiste of Ireland said the government will open an independent investigation on a National Lottery mistake that excluded four prizes worth €180k.

Ireland.- Imagine the thrill of winning a game of chance and the despair of getting nothing in return anyway. That’s exactly what happened in Ireland, where the National Lottery excluded four top prizes from scratch card games in 2014.

However, the Tanaiste (deputy head of the government) said they will open an independent investigation to look into the incident.

The prizes added up to €180k and had the National Lottery apologising for what happened.

Premier Lotteries  Ireland (PLI), which runs the National Lottery, realised the prizes were not included for players to win in three out of 178 scratch card games. According to the authorities, the mistake was a “human error.” They found out about it during an internal review of all products recently.

Pearse Doherty said he couldn’t believe how four top prizes got left out of lottery games.

“This company has made enormous profits. There is a serious issue in relation to the regulator. It has a team of 10. There is a serious question in relation to the role of the regulator in Ireland,” he added about the National Lottery scandal.