Questions remain about National Lottery’s new ‘must-win’ prize game – Durkan

The National Lottery’s newly announced ‘must-win prize’ is an acknowledgement that the 6-month rollover is unsustainable, but questions remain regarding how the new game design will operate, a Fine Gael TD has said.

Deputy Bernard Durkan said, “The introduction of this new ‘must-win’ prize is a welcome change from Premier Lotteries Ireland, but we really need to see more detail in order to fully restore public confidence.

“This move by Premier Lotteries Ireland also amounts to an acknowledgement that the six-month rollover to date is unsustainable. A system that leads to 54 consecutive rollovers, before tonight’s draw, is flawed and we need to see a long-term plan to ensure this does not continue into the future.

“There is no doubt but that the 6-month winning drought has undermined public confidence in the Lotto. Since I first raised this issue there has been a noticeable big push on advertising for the National Lottery. We cannot quantify the magnitude of this marketing campaign as Premier Lotteries Ireland cited market sensitivity today in the Committee and would not disclose the details. We also know relatively little about how the streak of no wins over the last six months has impacted sales.

“While the new game design is a welcome move, much still needs to be teased out in order to fully restore public confidence and get people back playing it regularly. Questions remain around how this new design will operate. When will it kick in? Is it a long-term solution or a once-off answer to the current rollover?

“Premier Lotteries Ireland could not answer me today when I asked the basic questions about when it will start or how it will actually operate. We need to see also how it will impact the Lotto’s biggest prizes and the rules of chance. Further detail is urgently needed to restore public faith in the Lotto.”