National Lottery’s Response to Covid-19
An additional €16 million of National Lottery expired unclaimed prize money will be used to support the health sector response to COVID-19. The money was held in the National Lottery Fund, which is managed and controlled by the National Lottery Regulator and will now be transferred by the Regulator to the Exchequer.
National Lottery CEO, Andrew Algeo said:
“All of us at the National Lottery are delighted to see this €16 million used to improve health in our communities. PLI has been pleased to work together with the Regulator to make these funds available at this time. Thanks to our players, the National Lottery raised over €250m for thousands of Good Causes in 2019 and perhaps more than ever, plays a vital role in supporting clubs, charities and great causes across the country”.
Over €5.5 billion has been raised for use by Good Causes since the National Lottery commenced operations in 1987. The sectoral areas funded by Good Causes are set out in the National Lottery Act, 2013 and include health of the community.
The National Lottery has also extended the period of time that lucky winners can collect prizes on all draws and certain scratch card games in order to encourage people to stay at home and not require them to make any unnecessary journeys during the current public health emergency. This means that any lucky winners of any National Lottery games will have an extra three months in which they can claim their prize.
