A GOVERNMENT ceiling on the National Lottery's Lotto jackpots was ruled out by the Minister of State for Finance, Ms Avril Doyle.

To do so would run the risk of undermining public interest in participation and could endanger the game's success, she said. "There is little doubt that such a policy would lead to significantly lower sales and a consequently reduced amount available for the beneficiary fund."

She was replying, on the adjournment, to Mr Seymour Crawford (FG, Cavan Monaghan) who said that last Saturday £1 million had been added to an "already obscene" amount of money, £3.8 million, which was now £6 million.

Ms Doyle said that while a £6 million jackpot was a lot of money, universal lottery experience proved that the bigger the jackpot, the greater the number of players.

She added that one third of Lottery turnover went directly to the beneficiary fund. Occasional large jackpots led to increased sales, which were ultimately reflected in the resources available for community, sporting and other groups which received Lottery funds. National Lottery funded expenditure would amount to about £88 million this year.