It could've been you: Lotto punters failed to collect €19m in prizes last year
A total of €106.8m in winnings have gone uncollected in the past six years, according to figures supplied by the Department of Public Expenditure.
Almost €19m in National Lottery prizes went unclaimed last year after punters failed to produce their winning tickets within 90 days of the draw, according to new figures from the Department of Public Expenditure.
A total of €106.8m in winnings have gone uncollected in the past six years, according to the figures supplied by the department.
The operator of the National Lottery was criticised last year for spending 98% of unclaimed winnings to advertise its games instead of returning the money to players by topping up prizes.
However, Premier Lotteries Ireland DAC this week refused to tell the department that granted it the licence to operate the National Lottery how much of the unclaimed prize money it spent on advertising.
“I am informed by the regulator [of the National Lottery] that this is the confidential information of the licensee and cannot be released by the regulator without the operator’s consent,” explained Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe.
“Having put this matter to the operator, the regulator was informed by the operator that it considers such information to be commercially sensitive, as it is for all other commercial entities, and consequently, [it] is not in a position to provide consent for the release of that information.”
Last year, a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General revealed €124m in prize money had gone unclaimed since 2015. It found almost €122m of this had been used to promote the National Lottery and its games.
During a subsequent appearance before the Dáil’s Public Accounts Committee, representatives of Premier Lotteries Ireland DAC were accused of “taking the piss” by allocating just 2% of unclaimed winnings to top up prizes.
The issue was raised again by Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan this week in the form of a parliamentary question, but Mr Donohoe was unable to provide details of how the money was used due to the operator’s concerns about commercial sensitivity.
He did reveal prize winners had failed to claim just under €18.7m last year, however, over €1.5m more than went unclaimed in 2021.
A total of €1.16m in prize money has yet to be claimed this year, including a €1m ticket that was purchased online last month by someone in Meath.
A player in Cork who won €27,505 on Telly Bingo in May has until next month to claim their prize.
