National Lottery operator Premier Lotteries was found in breach of its licence between September 2022 and October 2022, the annual report from the office of the regulator of the National Lottery of Ireland found. The report also showed a 6.2 per cent drop in sales in 2023, compared to the previous year.
The breach in licence happened through a third-party software used in the check my numbers facility on the National Lottery website.
A number of customers received notifications that their ticket was not a winner as the results of the draw were being verified. The issue was limited to the check my numbers facility on the National Lottery website and did not affect machines in stores.
This issue meant up to 394 prizes went unclaimed. The total value of the prizes that might not have been claimed was valued at €2,299, including one €250 prize with each of the others ranging from €24 to €2. However, the organisation says there was no noticeable increase in the rate of unclaimed prizes over the period.
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Premier Lotteries Ireland identified the issue in 2022 and reported it to the regulator. The operator did not profit from the error and returned the €2,299 of unclaimed prizes that were potentially affected by the software to players.
Premier Lotteries Ireland operates and designs the games in the lottery while the regulator ensures the licence agreement between the State and the operator are honoured.
The issue resulted in the regulator fining Premier Lotteries Ireland by €23,000, sending the money to the exchequer to fund good causes instead.
Regulator of the National Lottery Carol Boate said each breach of licence is a “serious matter” and it is shown “in my decision to withhold €23,000 in funds from the operator and ensure a permanent technical solution to my full satisfaction”.
No concerns were identified following a review conducted by Grant Thornton on all of the National Lottery’s prize checking systems. However, due to low usage, Premier Lotteries Ireland has since decided to phase out the check my numbers facility on the website.
A spokesman for the regulator said it was a commercial decision to leave out the check my numbers facility on the website as “data has shown a substantial decline in its usage” along with the popularity of barcode scanning, such as QR codes.
The National Lottery had €829.4 million in sales for 2023, the report said, a 6.2 per cent drop compared to the previous year. It is the second successive annual drop in profits, falling from a high €1.05 billion in 2021.
This is despite the introduction of the new game EuroDreams in late 2023 where players win an amount of money each month, instead of one single sum.
A spokesman for the regulator of the National Lottery said the high sales in 2020 and 2021 “reflect a time where people were very restricted in their movement” due to Covid. He said sales in 2023 “remain in line with 2018 and 2019 levels”.
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