Social Democrats want Lotto price hike reversed, and extra numbers dropped

There have been calls for the National Lottery to reverse its price hike for the Lotto.

The price for two lines is going up from €3 to €4, while the additional Lotto Plus option will now cost a minimum of €5 per play.

The number of numbers played is also going up - from 45 to 47.

Stephen Donnelly of the Social Democrats (pictured) is the latest to add his voice to complaints about the move, saying: "I'm not happy. The price should be brought back down and the probability of winning be brought back up."

Fianna Fáil has also lashed out at the government after the price hike.

They are blaming the government’s decision to privatise the National Lottery.

Its Spokesperson on Public Expenditure Seán Fleming says the price hikes were not needed.

"It wasn’t necessary to actually happen because you can increase the Lottery income by further promotion of the lottery.

"There’s a lot of people regular players but there’s a lot of people who only come in when there’s a big prize.

"Some people are not even fully tuned in to the National Lottery in the first place.

"So they could have got maybe more people paying and playing and contributing and you might not of had a price hike if they had actually done that."