Why sell Lottery licence?

The imminent unwarranted sale of the National Lottery licence is another example of the short-sightedness of our blinkered Government.

The argument being put forward by the Government is that it needs the expected 500m proceeds from its sale in order to construct the long-awaited National Children’s Hospital. It does not have to sell the Lotto licence to achieve this.

Since its inception, it has generated over €4bn for different causes within communities. As 31% of its turnover presently goes to good causes, on present sales, the €500m required can be easily realised in just over two years, if all the proceeds were directed towards this project.