National Lottery Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-17 ============================================================ Frankie Feighan (FG), Sligo-Leitrim I want to address the issue raised by Senator Fitzpatrick regarding the current practice of lottery betting as a betting activity. It is great to be back in the Seanad again. I thank the Senator for the articulate, informative and measured way that she put across this argument. I have a kind of an interest in this because in 1985 I worked in Australia and I saw how the lotto worked there and how it provided lots of funding for sport and health and when the lottery opened up here in Ireland, as a newsagent I applied for a lotto licence, which certainly benefited us. I was secretary of Boyle Celtic at the time, and we were the first or second club to apply for sports grants. I remember coming up here in 1987. There was a Fianna Fáil-led Government of which, I think, the late Seán Doherty and the former Minister Frank Fahey were members. We got £20,000 at the time. That made a huge difference to our football club, which has gone from strength to strength ever since. We have seen over the years how this has evolved. I also like to gamble as well sometimes, between doing the lotto and going into bookies' shops. I see how important this has been for bookies' shops, but I would like to think the money that people spend on the lotto comes back to the State, and I think the Senator made a very strong argument in that regard. The issue of betting on the national lottery through private bookmakers is a matter for the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, GRAI. The latter was established by legislation, as the Senator said, as recently as 2024. It is intended and expected to bring greater oversight and scrutiny to the gambling sector in Ireland. The role of the GRAI is to make sure that gambling is well regulated and fair, that standards are in place and monitored, and that protections are there for those who are most vulnerable, particularly children. As regulator, the GRAI will be working to prevent gambling from being a source of or support to crime, putting certain limits on advertising and inducements and raising greater awareness of gambling harms. The GRAI aims to build a high standard of protection for consumers and to ensure the integrity and fairness of gambling operations in Ireland. Of course, it is appropriate to note in the context the very valuable role and work of the statutory independent Regulator of the National Lottery in ensuring that the dual operations of the lottery remain fair, just and safe. The work of the regulator has helped to give confidence to the purchasers of lottery tickets, that the process is overseen and its propriety and integrity is preserved. The legal framework for regulating the national lottery is well established, robust and functioning effectively. The issue raised by the Senator is, naturally, an important one of which the Department is aware. The Minister for public expenditure is responsible for the legislation underpinning the national lottery, which is the National Lottery Act 2013, and overseeing the distribution of the lottery's funding of good causes. Our Department, of course, has a natural interest in protecting and supporting and in helping to protect and support the unique identify, value and status of the national lottery for the people of Ireland. The GRAI has responsibility for regulating gambling activity in Ireland other than the operations of the national lottery, which is specifically excluded from its remit. The national lottery is independently regulated under statute, as I have noted, by the Regulator of the National Lottery. However, betting on the National Lottery through private bookmakers and gambling entities is a matter for the GRAI and will no doubt be considered within the framework of its own statutory framework and responsibilities. Officials from the Department of public expenditure met with the Gambling Regulation Authority of Ireland in December of last year about betting on the national lottery and the licensing regime relating thereto. The authority has informed the Department of public expenditure that it is currently examining the practice of operators offering bets on national lottery draws. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-17/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:38+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-02-17