The Office of the Regulator of the National Lottery (ORNL) in Ireland has released its annual report for 2023.
The regulatory body reported that the sales in 2023 decreased by 6.2% year-over-year, continuing the downturn from 2022, which also saw a decline from 2021 when sales reached a record high of €1.05 billion ($1.14 billion).
However, it did highlight the fact that in 2023, it introduced a new source of revenue with the launch of a new draw-based national lottery game in Ireland for the first time since 2004, named EuroDreams.
Additionally, this year, ORNL improved its self-exclusion feature, now allowing players to exclude themselves from all current and future instant-win games, and they can also choose not to receive marketing messages.
Other improvements made by the regulatory body this year include the way players can claim their winnings. Those who have verified their identities can now transfer online winnings electronically to their bank accounts, and winnings from online national lottery purchases are now paid directly into players' bank accounts.
Besides releasing the 2023 annual report, ORNL also announced that it found Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI) in violation of its license.
It is worth noting: La Française des Jeux (FDJ) completed the acquisition of PLI at the end of 2023
The leak occurred between September and October 2022, due to a technical issue, many players accessed the "check my numbers" feature on the PLI website, which should not have been available as the draw results were not yet verified.
Some players subsequently received messages that their tickets did not win, ultimately leading to 394 unclaimed prizes.
As a result, the regulatory body withheld €23,000 due to the operator, which was handed over to the Treasury to fund public welfare projects. It is reported that PLI discovered this issue on its own in 2022 and reported it to ORNL.
This news comes as the Irish Gambling Regulation Bill is in its final stages and will be debated in the Irish House of Representatives tonight.
