An end to the National Lottery's monopoly here is possible, a lottery spokeswoman has confirmed. Responding to a decision in the Dutch High Court, which could mean the end of national lottery monopolies across Europe, she told The Irish Times the company would be "monitoring the situation closely".
Though made in November last year, the Dutch judgment has been made public just this week.
The Dutch national lottery, the Dutch Postcode Lottery (NPL), challenged the right of the retailer Schindler to sell German lottery tickets in the Netherlands. The High Court in The Hague found in favour of Schindler, saying it had not been adequately demonstrated that Schindler was "causing NPL harm by taking advantage of an unlawful privileged position".
It further judged that Dutch gaming laws, which seek to protect the consumer from fraud and/or excessive gambling, could not be used to proscribe another licensed lottery operating in the Netherlands.
The effect is that European lottery tickets could be sold across its borders.
The question of whether non-Irish national lottery tickets may be sold here has been unclear since the Director of Public Prosecutions dropped a case against an Irish newsagent selling UK lottery tickets here in 1996. In the UK a judicial review is to take place at the High Court in London, on May 5th and 6th, to determine whether lottery law there prevents the marketing and promotion of a non-British licensed lottery in the UK. Commenting on the possibility of other European lotteries selling their tickets here, a spokeswoman for the National Lottery said that whatever the legal situation, "the Irish National Lottery operates within the law". She added: "It is a matter for the Department of Justice. Obviously we will be monitoring it closely and with great interest."
The first lottery to take advantage of the ruling is the Millions 2000 international lottery. Based in Liechtenstein, its marketing spokesman, Mr David Vanrenen, said the Dutch court's decision was important "for the free trade principles of the EU." "The vested interests of commercial lottery investors have effectively been put before the law. Now judges in an EU member-state have effectively said the profit motive which has kept all national lotteries as monopolies is against European law."
Millions 2000 tickets are already being sold here, by Mr Patrick Shevlin at his newsagents in Templeogue, Co Dublin. Sales have been "very good" he said, since he started selling last March.
Mr Shevlin was also the first retailer in the State to start selling UK Lottery tickets at his newsagents in Templeogue in 1995. When the DPP dropped the charges it had brought against him under Section 21 of the 1986 Gaming and Lotteries Act, the National Federation of Retail Newsagents described the government's handling of the legal situation as "confused".
