The national lottery has claimed that a regulatory loophole allowing offshore companies to bet on the Irish lottery is an “escalating threat” to its good cause fund, worth €225m to charities last year.

While nearly 30c in every euro spent on national lottery games goes towards charity, offshore betting companies such as Lottoland, promoted by the British game show host Chris Tarrant and Irish footballer Harry Arter, do not have to give any of their proceeds from the Irish lottery to charity.

Premier Lotteries Ireland, the lottery’s Irish operator, recently met with government ministers, including Paschal Donohoe, the finance minister, to lobby for a change in legislation to ban offshore betting on Irish games.

Camelot, which runs the UK lottery, has raised similar issues with…