Camelot considering bid to run Irish Lottery
DUBLIN, IRELAND – According to a report in the Irish Independent, Camelot, the UK National Lottery provider is in the running to bid for the licence to run the Irish Lottery. The licence is due to go to tender next year with proceeds going to raise money for a National Children’s Hospital.
The Irish Government expects the majority of the €600m cost of the NCH will be raised through the sale of the Lotto licence, with the remainder of its funding coming from the €2bn allocated for capital spending in next year’s Budget.
It remains to be seen whether Camelot does bid for the Lotto licence. A spokesperson for the lottery operator said, “It is early days with regard to Ireland. The Government has only just announced its headline approach to the new licence and we won’t be commenting further until we have more details of its plans for the National Lottery.”
According to figures for the 2011 fiscal year, the Irish National Lottery posted sales of €772m, of which €419.9m was spent on prizes, with €243.7m going to good causes. Costs accounted for the remaining €108.4m.
Other names being touted to bid for the licence include Lottomatica (owners of global lottery software provider GTECH and Italian National Lottery licence holders) and Richard Desmond, the man behind the controversial Health Lottery in Britain.
Published: November 14, 2011
