The national lottery has claimed that a regulatory loophole allowing offshore companies to bet on the Irish lottery is an “escalating threat” to its good cause fund, worth €225m to charities last year.
While nearly 30c in every euro spent on national lottery games goes towards charity, offshore betting companies such as Lottoland, promoted by the British game show host Chris Tarrant and Irish footballer Harry Arter, do not have to give any of their proceeds from the Irish lottery to charity.
Premier Lotteries Ireland, the lottery’s Irish operator, recently met with government ministers, including Paschal Donohoe, the finance minister, to lobby for a change in legislation to ban offshore betting on Irish games.
Camelot, which runs the UK lottery, has raised similar issues with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in the UK. It claims unregulated, offshore operators are eating into its margins despite a specific provision in the UK Gambling Act 2005 prohibiting competitors from offering bets on national lottery products.
There is no comparable provision in Irish law. Instead any company wishing to offer bets on the Irish lottery must seek a licence from Revenue. Four online companies currently have licences to offer bets on Irish games: Lottoland, Multilotto, Playlotto and Mylotto24.
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The national lottery said these companies had undergone “rapid growth” over the past 18 months by exploiting the loophole in Irish legislation. “They utilise the names of ‘Lotto’ and ‘EuroMillions’, potentially leading players to believe they are participating in the national lottery games, and contributing to good causes,” said Premier Lotteries.
The national lottery added offshore operators could sometimes offer larger prizes, or use other promotions such as free plays and rollover jackpots, because they had no obligation to contribute to good causes or to comply with the same regulatory requirements.
“We have mandatory controls and financial caps on the amount that can be played online in order to protect our players. The offshore betting operators do not,” it said.
Lobbyists hired by the national lottery met with several ministers prior to Christmas, including Donohoe; Joe McHugh, the government chief whip; Catherine Byrne and Finian McGrath, junior ministers at the Department of Health; and Brendan Griffin, a junior minister in the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.
It said it had urged the politicians to introduce “urgent, legislative change”.
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“This could be done by way of an amendment to existing legislation or be part of new legislation,” it said.
The Department of Justice is expected to progress the long-delayed Gambling Control Bill this year, although it would have to be amended to remove the availability of remote licences for offshore operators. The department said this weekend that its involvement in the licensing process was limited to the granting of certificates of personal fitness to “relevant officers” as nominated by the applicant companies. “These certificates are granted upon certain ‘fit and proper’ conditions being satisfied and verified by An Garda Siochana,” it said.
The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform confirmed it had recently met with Premier Lotteries Ireland and the regulator of the national lottery and said it had committed to “engaging further” on the issue and “examining any potential actions that could be considered to address this issue”.
At an Oireachtas joint committee on finance, public expenditure and reform last year, Tara Buckley of RG Data, which represents about 4,000 retailers, also warned of the effect of offshore operators on Irish shops. She voiced concerns that consumers using the sites might be under the impression they were officially sanctioned and were contributing to good causes.
The national lottery was set up in 1987 after the Irish Sweepstakes closed. In 2016 Premier Lotteries Ireland, which signed a 20-year licence to run the competition in Ireland in 2014, reported a 12% increase in turnover, with sales of €650m. Accounts for 2017 have yet to be filed.