Fair play is the name of the game on Winning Streak
The profits, or surplus, from the sale of scratch cards, together with the sale of all other lottery games are transferred directly to the Government for allocation to the beneficiary projects in sport, arts, health and welfare, youth and recreation, charities and the Irish language.
No private profits are made from the operation of the National Lottery.
To take the points raised by Mr. Gleeson, one by one:
1. On Thursday of each week, 100 envelopes are randomly selected in a preliminary draw from all of the three-star entries received in the National Lottery since the previous Thursday.
2. The process is completely random and no account whatsoever is taken of the postmarks when the 100 envelopes are being randomly selected.
3. The draw, which is video-recorded for security purposes, is carried out by an officer of the Garda Siochána in the presence of an independent observer from KPMG. All of the selected envelopes are opened and checked to ensure that they contain valid tickets.
A control list is made of the serial number of each of the 100 cards selected. The cards are then re-enveloped and put in a dual-locked, sealed container. This sealed container is taken to RTÉ on Saturday where the seal is officially broken, in the presence of KPMG, and the 100 envelopes are loaded into the small drum from which the five winners are drawn on the TV show.
4. The cut-off point for entries for each Winning Streak game show preliminary draw is 10am on the Thursday preceding each show.
Entries received after 10am on Thursday are automatically included in the next preliminary draw.
5. Instant prizes on scratch cards are randomly spread throughout a game. The average odds of winning a prize are printed on the back of each scratch card. The total annual sales and prizes paid for all scratch cards are published each year in the annual report of the National Lottery.
6. All prizes, including the top prizes, as advertised, are included in all scratch card games. The National Lottery scratch card suppliers, who also supply North American state lotteries, print the scratch cards to very strict security standards. The inclusion of all top prizes is officially certified by the printers, with independent verification by external auditors. Mr Gleeson, and your readers, can be reassured that the operation of the National Lottery is carried out with the highest standards of openness, integrity and fairness. These have been our standards for the past 15 years and in that time, with the support of lottery players throughout Ireland, we have raised over €1.7 billion for good causes at community and national level.
Denis Kirwan,
Information Officer,
National Lottery,
Abbey Street Lower,
Dublin 3
