Sir, – The imminent unwarranted sale of the National Lottery licence is another example of the short-sightedness of our blinkered Government. The argument been put forward by the Government is that it needs the expected €500 million proceeds from its sale in order to construct the long awaited national children’s hospital. It does not have to sell the Lotto licence to achieve this.
Over the past 25 years, since its inception, it has generated more than €4 billion for different causes within communities. As 31 per cent of its turnover currently goes to good causes, on present sales, the €500 million required can be easily realised in just over two years if all the proceeds were directed towards this project.
Since the whole sum would not be needed up front, it could easily be collected over a number of years by setting aside a set amount on a yearly basis without adversely affecting other causes. It could also be decided to dedicate the proceeds from one draw each week to this cause and it may encourage more people to play in the knowledge that their gamble would be going to this specific cause and not towards some political parish pump venture – as has happened in the past.
Like almost everything else in this country, it is highly possible that the proceeds from its sale could be diverted to other wasteful projects: there is no guarantee this would not happen. Since the Lotto has proved to be one of the greatest success stories as a result of the generosity of the Irish people, why should we sell it to a foreign outfit to capitalise on that success? It is not in the interests of the Irish people to do that, as the profits should remain in the hands of the Irish people who are making all the contributions towards that success. It is a gift of the people to the State and it is not within the gift of the government to sell it, as it belongs to the people.
The Government has already socialised the disastrous private banking debts on the backs of the Irish public and now it is prepared to sell off one of our success stories for a pittance: that does not make sense. Since the Lotto delivers a guaranteed weekly windfall for the Government, it is difficult to understand how it cannot see the folly behind this sale. – Yours, etc,
CHRISTY KELLY,
Templeglantine,
Co Limerick.