IT was refreshing this week to turn on RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland programme and find long overdue questioning of the framework in which the National Lottery is allowed to operate in Ireland. Especially so at a time when gambling has come under such fire in society.

The discussion arose after an announcement just last month that Ireland’s Lotto draws will be broadcast in a new timeslot. It now runs just before the RTÉ Nine O’Clock News on Wednesdays and Saturdays – attaching itself as the lead-in to a flagship programme in the country’s television landscape.

Cian Murphy, CEO of the National Lottery, said that moving the draw would “better reflect audience viewing habits and create a more seamless and engaging experience for players”. Essentially, though, one can only imagine the switch will presumably deliver a larger audience flow for the draws.

This has led to concerns being raised by Dr. Frank Houghton, principal investigator of the Tobacco, Alcohol and Gambling Research Group at Technological University of the Shannon, over the impact of underage viewers being exposed to the lottery.

Houghton’s main point of argument was that it was “really obvious” the draws should move to after the watershed, and that his group’s analysis of over 200 Lotto draws between 2023 and 2024 found almost all draws “took place either between or just after programming, which was rated either 12 or 12A.”

But it was the topic of Ireland’s Gambling Regulation Bill that arguably delivered the strongest area of conversation. Under the legislation, which has yet to be enforced but is in the process of being delivered, gambling advertising is prohibited from being shown on television during daylight hours.

Stark contrast

However, the National Lottery, which has its own unique legislative framework, is somehow excluded from falling under the bill’s remit. That move has been controversial for racing followers, given 18+ subscription channels like Racing TV will not be able to show any advertisements linked to betting, yet the Lotto can continue quite aggressive marketing at all hours of the day, across all media platforms.

Houghton noted the fact that the Gambling Regulation Bill does not apply to the National Lottery is “a very strange and possibly unique setup in Ireland”.

“The National Lottery is covered by its own act that contains no such restriction,” he said. “A major issue for us is just the sheer volume of National Lottery advertising you see in shops, hear on the radio and see on TV,” later adding: “Are we really going to continue pretending the National Lottery is not a form of gambling?”

When pressed by interviewer Gavin Jennings that the Lotto is regarded differently as a “softer form of gambling that promotes and pays for good causes”, Houghton responded: “It does to a degree. Now, we wouldn’t want to be naive here. It’s now run by a French gambling firm, who take away tens of millions in profit every year. There’s also obviously a fair chunk that goes to retailers.”

According to figures for 2024 released last October, the National Lottery saw its sales increase by 3.2% to nearly €856 million for the year. This is clearly big business.

However, the money being set aside for good causes out of the Lottery dropped marginally in 2024 to €283 million – and that amount has been declining each year since a peak contribution in 2021. That is an eye-catching trend.

When it comes to regulation and the Gambling Bill as a whole, no sensible person would suggest that a sector as big as gambling shouldn’t have robust processes in place. Fresh legislation is long overdue in the industry in Ireland.

Major inconsistency

That said, it is a glaring and galling contradiction to see the National Lottery breezing into a clear primetime television slot in the same moment that gambling advertising is being curtailed between 5.30am and 9.00pm. The same state-led intervention that is expected to cause immense disruption to the business model of channels like Racing TV or Sky Sports Racing is staying well away from a highly popular, comparable sector. That is a highly unsatisfactory outcome.

In truth, the inconsistent acknowledgement of the National Lottery as a gambling product, and the failure to regulate it accordingly, is a shambolic move – one that stands as a damning indictment of our country’s regulatory nous.

To end his segment, Houghton offered further evidence of uninspiring practice surrounding the Lotto.

“Another piece of research that we did looked at reports of the regulator of the National Lottery,” he explained.

Regulator reflections

“It has to be said that even the regulator has produced a really sort of sanitised version of National Lottery reports. If you read them, there’s huge emphasis on ‘playing’. The word ‘gambling’ really doesn’t feature that often. It talks about ‘winning’, ‘prizes’ and ‘good causes’. We looked at something like 11 years of reports and would you believe that the word ‘addiction’ never comes up in reports.”

If one form of gambling is to face serious regulatory scrutiny, it is only fair that all forms must. The powers that be are fooling only themselves with this current misstep of banning one form of advertising, and watching another attach itself to a premier television slot.