One of the State's most high profile advertising contracts, the National Lottery, has been put out to tender.

The account, which is currently held by Irish agency McConnells, is likely to attract interest from all the major Irish advertising agencies and possibly from overseas.

The new advertising contract will run until December 2008 and may be extended for a further two years. The National Lottery spends €8 million on advertising and related activities each year.

Whoever wins the contract will have to create campaigns for the main lottery product, lotto plus, various scratch card games, new media products and corporate advertising.

Yesterday, advertising executives described the contract as a "great creative opportunity". However, others said the brand needed a serious overhaul.

The National Lottery is seeking an agency to provide creative work and media buying services. It is not clear whether these will be offered to two separate agencies or just one.

McConnells is likely to put up a strong fight to retain the account. The company is Ireland's largest independent advertising agency and already holds major accounts like AIB, ESB, Tesco, Eircom and Clerys.

The National Lottery recently presented its 2004 annual results, which showed a 3.4 per cent increase in sales to a record €578.3 million.

Seventeen individuals became lotto millionaires last year. The lottery also paid out €191.1 million for beneficiary projects, an increase of €4.4 million on the 2003 figure of €186.7 million.

The amount raised for good causes since the launch of the National Lottery in 1987 is €2.2 billion, representing 33 per cent of total Lotto sales.

The company is currently working on a range of new online and mobile games. It may also soon be able to offer products via interactive television.

However, under the National Lottery Act, only Irish residents over the age of 18 are allowed to participate in such games, so participants may have to register before taking part.