The National Lottery has said that the lotto jackpot rolling over unclaimed for six months is “such an unusual event”.
As reported in The Irish Times, the National Lottery said the game is “not designed to go on this long”, however the organisation did add that 180 winners nationwide have shared €13.5 million in “boosted prize funds” due to the record €19 million jackpot rolling over.
This comes following Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan calling for an urgent probe into the “unwinnable” National Lottery jackpot.
“The current jackpot rollover of 23 weeks and capped jackpot of €19 million is unprecedented,” a spokesman for the National Lottery said.
“Because of the cap, the flow down of prizes gives more players the opportunity to win even bigger prizes at lower prize tiers.”
“For example, in last Saturday’s draw, one winner in Fermoy in Co Cork won the Match 5 + Bonus category to win a boosted prize fund worth €996,216.”
Last week, Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan called on the chief executive of Premier Lotteries Ireland, Andrew Algeo, to remove some balls from the draw in an act of “good faith” to make the draw more winnable.
When asked by The Irish Times if something can be done to ensure the jackpot is won, the spokesman for the National Lottery said the game rules do not allow for a must-be-won event “at the moment”.
“It’s something that we are looking at but because of the game rules, because we are regulated, there isn’t anything we can do at the moment, but it is something we are looking at.”
