Ireland’s National Lottery discusses good causes

The National Lottery of Ireland discussed a recent report that claimed local charities are losing €43 million a year.

Ireland.- A recent report by Dublin City University economist Tony Foley revealed that around €43 million in god-causes funding is being lost because of how the Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) approached its business. The National Lottery argues that funding provided for good causes has increased in the last few years.

The report, which was commissioned by European Lotto Betting Association (ELBA), identified a number of reasons that were affecting funding. One of the factors was a high level of unclaimed prizes returned to the National Lottery. The lottery’s underperformance on digital channels was also one of the factors.

“Today’s research highlights that there are several key issues that present a risk to the long-term sustainability of this vital funding,” explained Foley. “The perceived threat of online lottery betting to good causes’ funding is, in fact, minimal in today’s terms, as indicated by the market share held by the licensed operators like Lottoland, especially in light of the robust sales performance of the National Lottery.

However, the National Lottery said that the research was commissioned by ELBA, “a group that makes no contribution to the Good Causes Fund and some of whose members carry on betting activities relating to lotteries, which they are prohibited from in other EU countries.”

“The prizes won by National Lottery players in 2018 were €98 million greater than in 2014, and the amount of funding provided to good causes in 2018 was €49 million higher than in 2014,” Irish Examiner reported. “Between 2015 and 2018, participants in the National Lottery have raised €870 million for good causes,” said the National lottery.

Bookies get betting tax relief

Last month, Ireland introduced a new measure that will see relief from betting duty of €50k a calendar year for local bookies. Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe says that this initiative will help small independent bookmakers in Ireland.

The measure establishes that bookmakers in the country won’t be subject to pay taxes on the first €50k in bets that they take in a year, Irish Times reported. Donohoe said that this was subject to EU state aid rules.

While the aid increases to €50k, the tax strategy group from the department had suggested €2 million a year to help those bookmakers compete against the leading operators like Ladbrokes or Paddy Power.