Some Irish politicians want to prohibit the nation\u2019s bookmakers from offering lottery betting either online or in their betting shops.<\/p>\n
Ireland is in the midst ofupdating its archaic gambling laws<\/strong>, although this interminable process seems to have begun shortly after the potato famine. Nevertheless, Irish politicians continue to debate the specifics of the Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019, and the apparently mortal threat of lottery betting has now been thrown into the mix.<\/p>\n Irish media outlet\u00a0RT\u00c9<\/strong>\u00a0reported this week that\u00a0Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire<\/strong>, a Sinn Fein member of the Justice Committee in the Irish legislature\u2019s lower house, submitted an amendment to the gambling bill that would prohibit Irish bookmakers from offering bets on lottery outcomes.<\/p>\n \u00d3 Laoghaire claimed that these \u201clottery type experience games\u201d were depriving the National Lottery of \u20ac400m in annual revenue, which in turn meant Lottery operator Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) was funnelling \u20ac110m less than it might toward good causes each year.<\/p>\n That argument will sound familiar to anyone who\u2019s listened to PLI execs whinge about how\u00a0\u2018parasitic\u2019 online lottery betting operators<\/strong>\u00a0such as Lottoland, MyLotto24 and MultiLotto have been drinking their lotto milkshakes in recent years (although these companies\u00a0beg to differ<\/strong>). And \u00d3 Lagohaire appears to have been quoting directly from a submission PLI made to the committee.<\/p>\n The\u00a0Irish Bookmakers\u2019 Association<\/strong>\u00a0(IBA) issued a statement reminding everyone that its members have been offering lottery betting for a quarter-century now, and lottery betting is estimated to account for 10% of retail turnover and 5% online. IBA chair\u00a0Sharon Byrne<\/strong>\u00a0noted that bookmakers are also major contributors to good causes and said a lottery betting ban \u201cwill only serve to extend a monopoly via misplaced legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n The Irish government has already come out against a proposed lottery betting ban, with Minister of StateDavid Stanton<\/strong>\u00a0noting that accepting this amendment \u201cmight lead to further demands from the National Lottery,\u201d such as a ban on local lotteries that benefit sports clubs and community groups, who are also allegedly siphoning sales from the national product.<\/p>\n \u00d3 Lagohaire later withdrew his amendment but reportedly plans to bring up the issue again when the legislature reconvenes in the fall. \u00d3 Lagohaire subsequently issued a tweet clarifying that his amendment \u201cwas focused on online off shore organizations taking money away from national lotteries (not on having a bet on lotto in bookies).\u201d<\/p>\n