On Ireland's national lottery

Ireland's state lottery, established in 1987 and modelled on revenue-raising counterparts in operation in North America since the 1960s, has recently attracted interest in the UK. Although the Irish lottery agent is secretive in important respects, there is enough evidence to show, as in North America, that among socio-economic groups, educational attainment is probably the best predictor of lottery participation, and that the implicit tax in the lottery is quite regressive. The cost/sales ratio of the Irish lottery is inordinately high. Due to discriminatory, yet very loose, legislation, which advocates of such a scheme for the UK might usefully study, the objectives of the Irish state lottery agent are unclear.

A hard copy is available in UCD Library at GEN 330.08 IR/UNI