The European Commission has threatened to take Ireland to the European Court over its ban on foreign lotteries. The Commission said yesterday that Ireland was breaking EU single market rules and gave it two months to change the law or face the European Court of Justice.
The indications in Brussels yesterday were that the Government would change the law. The legal position with foreign lotteries has been confused since the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew a case against a Dublin newsagent in January last year.
Mr Pat Shevlin, the owner of Alan's newsagent in Templeogue, has continued to sell British lottery tickets.
Yesterday he said he knew the law was on his side. He had taken legal advice before selling the tickets. The DPP never explained to him why the case was taken or why it was withdrawn.
Mr Shevlin charges £1.25 for a British lottery ticket to pay the cost of bringing them from Northern Ireland. He said there was not a huge interest in the tickets.
Almost two in three adults have a regular flutter on the National Lottery. Sales reached £307 million last year.
The Commission is challenging rules in the 1956 Gambling and Lotteries Act which prevents people playing foreign lotteries.
"The organisation and promotion of lotteries should be regarded as economic activities in the form of services, which should be able to benefit from the single market," the Commission said.
"In the case in question, foreign lotteries or lotteries partly organised from another member state may not take place on Irish territory, and participation in a lottery organised in another member state is not permitted."
A Commission spokeswoman said no other EU country has lottery rules which prevented citizens and foreign operators from taking advantage of their rights under the single market.
British lottery operator, Camelot, said it has no plans to compete with its Irish counterpart.
"We are the UK national lottery. At this state we have no plans to expand the lottery to include other countries," a spokesman said.
A spokesman for the National Lottery said it operated with whatever legislation was in place. Meanwhile, a single man in his 60s became Northern Ireland's 50th Lotto jackpot winner and Ireland's 75th Lotto millionaire when he collected a cheque for £1,464,550 at the National Lottery office in Dublin yesterday. The man, from Armagh wished to remain anonymous.