(Limerick East) asked the Minister for Finance the total amount of money raised through the sale of tickets in the national lottery from its inception to date; the amount which the Government expect to receive from An Post in profits from the national lottery; the way in which he intends to distribute this money to the relevant beneficiaries; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

9.

asked the Minister for Finance the total proceeds from the national lottery to date; the amount envisaged in a full year; the total cost of administration including prizes; if there is any agreement to compensate other lotteries affected by the national lottery; those who will benefit from the distribution of the proceeds of the lottery; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

11.

asked the Minister for Finance if his attention has been drawn to the fact that concern has been expressed by the public following the announcement that excess funds from the national lottery are to be allocated to projects other than those associated with sport and culture; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

14.

asked the Minister for Finance if he will outline the procedure now being adopted to allocate the proceeds of the national lottery; the ratios being used to guide allocation decisions between different expenditure areas; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

20.

asked the Minister for Finance the estimated income from the national lottery for 1987; and if he will make a statement regarding the way in which the money will be allocated.

22.

asked the Minister for Finance if he will indicate the anticipated net revenue from the national lottery in 1987; the manner in which the profits will be distributed; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

31.

asked the Minister for Finance the proposals, if any, he has to make changes in the allocation of funds from the national lottery whereby voluntary organisations can qualify for capital grants towards funding of various projects; whether it is proposed to make grants payable from the national lottery funds through the local authorities to voluntary organisations; if he has any alternative plans for the spending of funds from the national lottery; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

40.

asked the Minister for Finance if it is still Government policy to allocate 55 per cent of national lottery funds to youth and sports organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

43.

asked the Minister for Finance the profits from the national lottery to date; the profit which is available for distribution; and the way in which it is proposed to distribute these moneys.

49.

asked the Minister for Finance the way in which it is intended to allocate the moneys received through the national lottery; the names of the organisations, bodies and groups to which funds will be allocated; and when the funds will be received.

75.

andMr. Lowry asked the Minister for Finance the net figure accrued in the national lottery to date; the amount of the current fund which has been allocated; the bodies to which it will be allocated, the reason the distribution of the balance of the fund has been unduly delayed; and the criteria which will be used to determine successful applications.

81.

asked the Minister for Finance the way in which moneys from the national lottery are to be allocated; the amount which has been realised to date from the national lottery for each relevant month, giving a clear indication of the amount of interest involved and whether that is also to be allocated; and if he will adhere rigidly to the basis on which the legislation was set up, namely, that sport and the arts would be the beneficiaries.

82.

asked the Minister for Finance the net Exchequer revenue to date from the national lottery in excess of the 1987 budget projection; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

83.

asked the Minister for Finance when a decision will be made to allocate the current proceeds of the national lottery; the organisations which will benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 22, 31, 40, 43, 49, 75, 81, 82, 83 together. Total sales of lottery tickets to date amount to approximately £84 million.

Sales in each month have been:

Interest earned on moneys on deposit in the national lottery fund deposit account amounted to £920,706.55 up to the end of September 1987; this amount forms part of the national lottery fund's surplus for payment to the Exchequer and will be available for allocation to spending projects in due course.

The terms of the licence under which An Post National Lottery Company operate the lottery on the Minister's behalf envisaged that when the lottery was fully operational, its proceeds would break down as follows:

Prizes: 45-50 per cent

APNLC

—operating expenses: up to 18.65 per cent

—management fees: 1.1 per cent

Surplus paid over to the Exchequer 30.25-35.25 per cent

It is expected that the company will operate within these limits in 1987.

Prize expenses to date amount to approximately £36 million. Total operating costs incurred, including agents' commission and all start-up costs, amount to approximately £16 million.

The profits from the national lottery to date, which will be available for distribution and taking into account unclaimed prizes and other current liabilities, amount to approximately £32 million. The total surplus accruing to the Exchequer in 1987 is now estimated at £35 million — £28 million in excess of the projected target in the 1987 budget. The estimated surplus for 1988, as published in the 1988 Estimates volume, is £36.5 million.

The surplus which accumulates in the national lottery fund is taken in to the Exchequer as non-tax revenue. It is only taken in as it is needed for spending on approved programmes, and £5 million has been transferred to the Exchequer to date.

The allocation of funds to the different spending areas is decided by Government on the basis of the resources available and in the light of the requirements of the different programmes. It is not the practice to apply predetermined ratios when deciding the allocations.

Under the National Lottery Act, 1986, the lottery surplus may be applied for the purposes of sport and other recreation, national culture (including the Irish language) the arts and the health of the community, and such other purposes as the Government may determine from time to time. Last May the Government decided to include youth activities among the purposes for which lottery moneys may be applied. The Government have recently decided that amenity and welfare projects may also be funded from the lottery surplus. A notice to this effect will be published in Iris Oifigiúil.

Spending Ministers are responsible for the selection of individual projects within their own areas. When spending programmes have been approved the funds are paid out, as needed, from the national lottery subhead in the Finance Vote. The funds are transferred to suspense accounts operated by the spending Departments who are responsible for their administration. Detailed questions about the issue of grants to recipient bodies and the criteria used to determine successful applications should, therefore, be addressed to the Ministers concerned.

The Government announced the allocation of the first £7 million of the lottery proceeds on 12 May; £3.15 million was allocated for youth and sports projects, £1.75 million for arts, culture and the Irish language, and £2.1 million for projects in the health area.

The Government are now in the process of finalising their decisions on the allocation and distribution of resources for the remainder of 1987 and 1988. Allocations will be made to projects in the sports, youth, amenities, arts and culture, health and welfare and Irish language sector. Because of the amounts involved, the Government are particularly anxious to achieve the most equitable distribution of funds in line with the purposes for which the lottery was established. I expect to be in a position to make an announcement of detailed allocations in the next week or so.

It is not possible in practical terms to calculate the precise impact of the lottery on the finances of organisations claiming compensation for loss of revenue. However, the Government have taken steps to improve the position of lotteries operated by voluntary and charitable organisations by increasing substantially the prize limits for these lotteries.

It is, of course, open to voluntary and charitable organisations to apply to the Departments concerned for grants from the national lottery funds allocated to youth, sports, health and other areas and I would encourage them to do so.

The House will appreciate that we have a considerable number of questions here and many Deputies will be entitled to ask supplementaries. Deputies Noonan, Creed, Durkan, Higgins, Naughten, Deasy, McGinley, Barry and Shatter have questions down and they will get priority, but everybody else will get an opportunity of asking questions.