An independent investigation and new laws to regulate lottery games are being sought in the wake of the controversy surrounding €180,000 in missing prizes.

Mr Coveney told the Dáil that it was “not acceptable” that human error was to blame for the four prizes being left out of the scratch card games.

The Lotto watchdog has refused to say what oversight, if any, it has over National Lottery prizes after the operator admitted a number of jackpots were left off its scratch cards.

The finding is contained in a new report by Dublin City University economist Tony Foley, commissioned by the European Lotto Betting Association, a body representing bet-on-lottery operators.

The National Lottery has hit back at new research that claims that Irish charities and good causes could be losing out on as much as €43m a year due to its current commercial strategy.

The National Lottery has said it is disappointed after Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said “there does not appear to be any evidence” that online betting on the outcome of draws is currently having an impact on the lotto’s business.

The National Lottery has said it is disappointed after Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said “there does not appear to be any evidence” that online betting on the outcome of draws is having an impact on the Lotto’s business.

Online betting companies have hit back at the National Lottery after it claimed that bookmakers who allow customers to bet on the outcome of Lotto draws without buying a ticket are diverting money from good causes.

More than 40% of all adults play lotto games on a regular basis and there was 7.1% increase in the amount of money given to worthy causes last year.

The National Lottery was blocked from releasing scratch cards based on the popular Monopoly board game — because the lotto watchdog feared they would appeal to children.

The operator of the National Lottery breached regulations aimed at preventing problem game playing, according to the body which regulates it.

The operator of the National Lottery breached regulations aimed at preventing problem game playing, according to the body which regulates it.

After a three-year break, the country’s Journalism Awards will return this November.

A Lotto player left it to the last minute to collect an €8.2m jackpot win yesterday. The 90-day deadline had almost expired when the prize was picked up by the anonymous winner.

There is a happy ending to the delayed Lotto payout: The winner of the €8.2m March jackpot can collect their prize — with interest.

The price of a lottery ticket is going up while the odds of winning the big jackpot are going down, as part of a raft of new changes to the National Lottery.

The price of Lotto tickets is to rise from €3 to €4 next month and the chances of winning are looking worse than ever as two extra numbers are being added to the draw.

National Lottery ticket terminals briefly crashed yesterday for the fourth time in just over a month.

Lotto bosses are refusing to comment on claims that prices for National Lottery games will increase within the next few months and that more balls will be added to draws — decreasing the chances of winning.

The new operators of the National Lottery are to appear before the Oireachtas finance committee next Wednesday to face a grilling from retailers and politicians about serious technical glitches in the system since the takeover.

National Lottery ticket terminals crashed yesterday for two hours — for the second time in less than a month.

For the first time in nearly three decades the National Lottery was deferred on Wednesday night — the €10m draw took place last night instead.

There was one winner of tonight's Lotto jackpot worth 10.2 million euro.

The Lotto draw - with a €10m jackpot - will take place this evening after it was cancelled last night for the first time ever.

“Technical problems” have been blamed for the National Lottery’s decision to delay its midweek draw from last night to tonight.

Changes to the National Lottery may cause problems for punters who have yet to collect their winnings as local retailers switch over to a new payout system.

The National Lottery is to undergo a significant facelift as its new owners swap the yellow ticket slips for green, allow shops to cash larger amounts of money and revamp scratch card designs.

The National Lottery produced 23 new millionaires last year, along with two EuroMillions jackpot winners, one of whom won close to €100m.

The new operators of the National Lottery have signed the licence to run the Lotto and other games for the next 20 years.

A consortium involving An Post and the company behind the UK lottery has successfully bid €405m to run the National Lottery.