Uncertainty about the value of the euro has led to a fall in Lottery ticket sales, it emerged today.
The awkward ticket prices created by the conversion meant a decrease in the number of people playing the game.
However after September, once ticket prices had been rounded up, the lottery company experienced its highest sales on record.
Mr Ray Bates, director of the National Lottery, said the euro introduction was a major factor in the fall in sales.
"There was a genuine uncertainty about the value of the euro," Mr Bates said.
"We transferred the price directly into euros, which was very awkward and meant people having to deal with lots of different coins. People said they did not like the 95 per cent price per panel.
"People genuinely didn't know whether a euro was equal to a pound or whether two euro was equal to a pound."
Despite a decrease in sales by 0.9 per cent, from €538.1 million in 2001 to €533.1 million in 2002, the final quarter of 2002 saw a record high.
Mr Bates described last year's poor sales as just a "glitch" in what was otherwise an upward trend.
"By the end of 2002 the company had coped with the changeover to a new currency and successfully converted to new technology during the first year of a new licence," said chairman Mr John Hynes.
PA