Regulator warns of 'unacceptable' number of shops selling lottery products to minors

The National Lottery is run by Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI), owned by La Française des Jeux, which also runs the French national lottery.

The regulator of the National Lottery has warned of an “unacceptable” level of retailers who are not properly complying with rules preventing sale of lottery products to those under the age of 18 and has asked the operator to take action.

Regulator of the National Lottery, Carol Boate said it is “very concerning” that nearly three in 10 shops visited were still prepared to sell products to minors.

In its annual report for 2024, the National Lottery regulator said it commissioned its second underage mystery shop, following an initial exercise in 2018.

Despite improvements over the six-year period, nearly 30% of retailers are failing to prevent lottery sales to underage buyers. 

The results show that 71% of retailers checked the age of test purchasers to ensure they are at least 18 years-old — an increase from the 63% in 2018 — leaving 29% which never checked the buyer’s age.

In total, 562 premises were tested with the test purchasers made up of boys and girls aged from 15 to 17.

The National Lottery is run by Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI), owned by La Française des Jeux, which also runs the French national lottery.

“While progress has been made, and the majority of retailers were fully compliant, the percentage not implementing the rules properly remains unacceptable,” said the report.

“The regulator has required the operator to take tougher actions to drive an increase in awareness and compliance with the law by its retailers.” 

Ms Boate said: “We will work with PLI and retailers to build on the progress made to date and adopt a zero-tolerance attitude towards the sale of age-restricted products to children.

“It is important that we encourage adults to avoid involving children in buying or playing National Lottery products or gifting National Lottery products to minors for birthdays or other occasions."

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The report also found that 92% of retailers displayed the 18+ signage for National Lottery games, up from 73% in 2018.

“While this progress is encouraging, the results clearly show there is still significant room for improvement in terms of age challenge and sale refusal to under-18s,” it said.