A survey has shown that Ireland has one of the highest rates of awareness of bet-on-lottery websites

The National Lottery has raised concerns about the growth of 'bet-on-lottery' services, where players can bet on a draw without buying a ticket.

An independent survey - carried out by Indecon - has found National Lottery games have fallen to around 13% of the annual gambling and gaming spend in Ireland.

It also shows that Ireland has one of the highest rates of awareness of bet-on-lottery websites.

However, only 6% of respondents had actually placed a bet on a lotto draw.

The National Lottery suggests that around 28 cent out of every euro spent goes to community initiatives and projects, on top of the prize money that goes to winners.

The organisation also suggests that lottery spending generates economic benefits for retailers.

Chief Executive of the National Lottery, Dermot Griffin claims that betting on the lottery means people are not supporting the community.

He argued: "I think it's important for us to remind our consumers that when they're spending on the National Lottery... there's a knock-on positive consequence for the community.

"I don't think you can say that for some of the remote overseas operators."

Two online lottery betting sites have disputed the suggestion that such services are undermining funding for good causes.

In a joint statement, Lottoland and MyLotto24 claim the report "was unable to quantify the size of the on-lottery betting market here, despite this fact having been formally established in a recent independent study".

They suggest that three operators had a combined lottery betting sales of €1.4 million in 2017 - representing around 0.25% of the National Lottery's draw-based sales.

https://www.newstalk.com/National-Lottery-raises-concerns-about-betonlotto-services