National Lottery Act, 1986

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 28/1986

Number 28 of 1986
NATIONAL LOTTERY ACT, 1986
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section 1. Definitions. 2. Power of Minister to hold or procure holding of National Lottery. 3. Grant by Minister of licence to hold National Lottery. 4. Prizes in National Lottery. 5. Application of net proceeds of National Lottery. 6. Independent scrutiny of National Lottery held by Company. 7. Sale of National Lottery tickets. 8. National Lottery Fund. 9. Remuneration of licensee. 10. The Company. 11. Memorandum of association of Company. 12. Articles of association of Company. 13. Alteration of memorandum and articles of association of Company. 14. Directors of Company. 15. Membership of either House of Oireachtas or of Assembly of European Communities by directors or staff of Company. 16. Borrowing by Company. 17. Provision in relation to certain property of Company. 18. Accounts of Company and audit. 19. Furnishing by Company of annual report and information to Minister. 20. Acquisition of shares in Company by Minister. 21. Holding and sale by Minister of shares in Company. 22. Powers of Minister as shareholder in Company. 23. Restriction on disposal of certain shares in Company. 24. Restriction on issue of shares in Company. 25. Payment of dividends, etc., into Exchequer. 26. Obligation to hold certain shares in Company in trust for Minister. 27. Vesting in Minister upon death, etc., of certain directors and members of Company of shares held by them. 28. Schemes for lottery games in National Lottery. 29. Directions to Company by Minister. 30. Special powers of Minister in relation to Company. 31. Provisions relating to names “National Lottery” and “Irish National Lottery”. 32. Exemption of National Lottery from Gaming and Lotteries Acts, 1956 to 1979. 33. Restriction of section 22, and power of Minister for Justice to amend sections 27 and 28 of Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1956. 34. Regulations. 35. Expenses. 36. Short title and collective citation.
Acts Referred to Arbitration Act, 1954 1954, No. 26 Arts Act, 1951 1951, No. 9 Companies Act, 1963 1963, No. 33 Companies Acts, 1963 to 1985 Gaming and Lotteries Act, 1956 1956, No. 2 Gaming and Lotteries Acts, 1956 to 1979 European Assembly Elections Act, 1977 1977, No. 30 European Assembly Elections Act, 1984 1984, No. 6
Number 28 of 1986
NATIONAL LOTTERY ACT, 1986
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR THE HOLDING BY OR ON BEHALF OF THE MINISTER FOR FINANCE OF A NATIONAL LOTTERY, TO AMEND THE GAMING AND LOTTERIES ACTS, 1956 TO 1979, AND TO PROVIDE FOR MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE MATTERS AFORESAID. [15th July, 1986]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
	Definitions.	1.—In this Act—
	“the Company” has the meaning assigned to it by section 10 of this Act;
	“company”, “director”, “share” and “subsidiary” have the meanings respectively assigned to them by the Companies Act, 1963 ;
	“the Fund” means the National Lottery Fund established under section 8 of this Act;
	“hold”, in relation to a national lottery, includes establish, promote, organise and conduct;
	“licence” means a licence under section 3 of this Act;
	“licensee” means the holder of a licence for the time being in force;
	“lottery game” means any game, competition or other procedure in which or whereby prizes (whether money prizes or otherwise) are distributed by lot or chance among persons participating in the game, competition or other procedure;
	“manager” means a person appointed under section 30 (2) of this Act in relation to the Company;
	“the Minister” means the Minister for Finance;
	“the National Lottery” means any lottery game or combination of lottery games held by the Minister or held under a licence in accordance with the rules contained in a scheme under section 28 (1) of this Act in relation to that game or each of those games;
	“National Lottery ticket” means a ticket entitling its owner to participate in the National Lottery;
	“winning ticket” means a ticket the owner of which is entitled to a prize in the National Lottery.
	Power of Minister to hold or procure holding of National Lottery.	2.—(1) The Minister may hold or procure the holding of the National Lottery in accordance with the provisions of this Act, but the Minister shall not hold or procure (otherwise than under the licence) the holding of a lottery game at a time when a licence is in force.
	(2) The Minister shall have all such powers as may be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the holding by him of the National Lottery and the provisions of this Act shall, as respects the National Lottery if and when it is held by the Minister, apply and have effect with any necessary modifications or adaptations in relation to the National Lottery if and when it is so held and to the Minister as they apply and have effect in relation to the National Lottery held by the Company and to the Company.
	Grant by Minister of licence to hold National Lottery.	3.—(1) (a) The Minister may grant a licence to a person authorising the holding on behalf of the Minister of the National Lottery.
	(b) Not more than one licence under this subsection shall be in force at any time.
	(2) Upon or at any time after the expiration or revocation of a licence, the Minister may grant a further licence under subsection (1) of this section to the person who was the holder of the first-mentioned licence.
	(3) When a licence is granted to a person for the first time, the duration of the licence shall be such period not exceeding 10 years as the Minister may determine; the duration of any subsequent licence granted to the person shall be such period as the Minister may determine.
	(4) The Minister may attach to a licence such terms and conditions as he considers necessary or expedient and specifies in the licence and may, at any time during the currency of a licence, by notice in writing given to the licensee, amend its terms or conditions or insert into it or delete from it terms or conditions.
	(5) The Minister may at any time, for reasons that seem to him to be sufficient and are stated in a notice in writing given to the licensee, revoke a licence.
	(6) The Minister shall not grant a licence to a person unless he is satisfied as to the suitability and competence of the person to hold, or, as the case may be, procure the holding of the National Lottery.
	(7) A licence shall be in writing and shall be expressed to authorise a company, being the licensee or a subsidiary of the licensee or, in a case where the licensee is not a company, a company which, if the licensee were a company, would be a subsidiary of the licensee, to hold the National Lottery on behalf of the Minister.
	Prizes in National Lottery.	4.—(1) The number, form (whether sums of money or otherwise) and value of the prizes to be distributed in the National Lottery shall, subject to subsection (2) of this section, be determined by the Company.
	(2) The total value of the prizes distributed in the National Lottery in any financial year of the Company shall, taking one year with another, be equal to not less than 40 per cent. of the total moneys received by the Company in that year in respect of the sale of National Lottery tickets in that year.
	Application of net proceeds of National Lottery.	5.—(1) Moneys paid into the Central Fund pursuant to section 8 of this Act shall be applied for—
	(a) the purposes of such one or more of the following, and in such amounts, as the Government may determine from time to time, that is to say, sport and other recreation, national culture (including the Irish language), the arts (within the meaning of the Arts Act, 1951 ) and the health of the community, and
	(b) such (if any) other purposes, and in such amounts, as the Government may determine from time to time.
	(2) Whenever a purpose is determined under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, notice of the purpose shall be published in Iris Oifigiúil.
	(3) Amounts required for a purpose determined under this section shall be paid out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas.
	Independent scrutiny of National Lottery held by Company.	6.—(1) Whenever the National Lottery is held by the Company, the Minister may from time to time appoint one or more persons whose functions shall be to examine the conduct generally of the National Lottery and to report thereon to the Minister, and for those purposes, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, to investigate—
	(a) its organisation, management and procedures,
	(b) the system for selecting winning tickets and the methods employed to prevent fraud in, or the manipulation of, that system and to ensure its fairness, accuracy, efficiency and reliability,
	(c) the manner of the selection, organisation and supervision of staff of the Company engaged in—
	(i) the handling or processing of National Lottery tickets or numbers for National Lottery tickets and the selection of National Lottery tickets to be winning tickets, and
	(ii) the installation, operation, maintenance, repair or supervision of computers or other electronic devices, or devices of any kind, used for the purposes of the National Lottery,
	(d) the installation, operation, maintenance, repair and supervision of computers or other electronic devices, or devices of any kind, used for the purposes of the National Lottery,
	(e) the operation of this Act and any regulations thereunder in relation to the National Lottery and...