Lottery sale to private firm is gamble that will cut funds for ‘good causes’

THE suggested sale of State assets is normally met with howls of indignation and opposition. Don’t sell the family silver, no matter how much the money is needed.

Yet the likely sale of the licence to operate the National Lottery, suggested by the Government months ago, has been met with indifference. Few seem to care that a major cash-generative machine owned and operated by the State might be placed into hands that would seek to make serious profit from its operation, thereby reducing the annual amount available to spend on “good causes”.

The Government cleverly floated the idea publicly. The licence would be sold with a specific purpose: the creation of the new national children’s hospital, something worthy that might not otherwise be built. Who could argue with that, the ultimate ‘good cause’.