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Up to €2,299 in prize money went unclaimed as a result of the glitch. Alamy Stock Photo

Up to 394 lottery prizes went uncollected after winning players were told they won nothing

A software update to the National Lottery’s website in 2022 delayed the speed at which winning numbers could be verified.

LAST UPDATE | 16 Oct 2024

NEARLY 400 LOTTERY prizes were not collected in 2022 after a software update on the National Lottery website delayed the speed at which winning numbers could be verified.

As a result, some players were told their ticket was ‘not a winner’ when, in reality, it was.

The glitch was in place for one month – between September and October in 2022.

In total, €2,299 in prize money went unclaimed as a result of the glitch, the regulator of the National Lottery said, which amounted to a breach in the lottery operator’s licence. The prices ranged from €2 to €250.

Premier Lotteries Ireland – the operator of the lotto – told The Journal that it paid the total sum of unclaimed money back into the National Lottery Prize fund.

The details of the breach were included in a press release accompanying the Regulator of the National Lottery’s Annual Report for 2023.

The incident is not recorded in either the 2022 report or 2023 report.

A spokesperson for the Regulator has told The Journal that the matter was not concluded in time to be included in the report furnished to the Minister for Finance.

The full details of the incident won’t be made available until next year, when they will be included in the Annual Report for 2024.

Self-checking services on the lottery’s app and in stores were not impacted by the technical glitch. In total, 394 prizes went unclaimed. 

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57 Comments
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    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Andrew Kenny
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    Oct 16th 2024, 1:11 PM

    Gougers. The biggest legit scam competition on the land.

    712
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    Mute Chris
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    Oct 16th 2024, 1:13 PM

    @Andrew Kenny: no one forces you to play.

    94
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    Mute Sun Rise
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    Oct 16th 2024, 1:18 PM

    @Andrew Kenny: It is a game of chance. Nothing like a scam whatsoever.

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    Mute helen mary fitzsimons
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    Oct 16th 2024, 2:05 PM

    @Sun Rise: a game of chance IS a scam.

    61
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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 16th 2024, 2:06 PM

    @Sun Rise: no chance in it for Canadian hedgefunds.

    77
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    Mute Fionn Bohane
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    Oct 16th 2024, 5:26 PM

    @Thesaltyurchin: French now I believe

    10
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    Mute P. J.
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    Oct 16th 2024, 6:06 PM

    @Thesaltyurchin:
    The Canadians sold you 2 years ago, poor returns.

    7
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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 16th 2024, 7:51 PM

    @P. J.: Ha! I see the French bought it for €350 milly.

    4
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    Mute odie Behan
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    Oct 16th 2024, 8:56 PM

    @Andrew Kenny: Still no sign of the 80 million that vanished in the first two years of operation many moons ago.

    18
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    Mute Alan Casey
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    Oct 16th 2024, 9:00 PM

    @Chris: Your comment is irrelevant.

    2
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    Mute John Moore
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    Oct 18th 2024, 12:01 AM

    @Andrew Kenny: How is it a scam exactly?

    1
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    Mute M G
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    Oct 16th 2024, 2:39 PM

    People on here saying the lottery isn’t a scam have short memories, not so long ago it rolled over and over for months on end and when politicians started to asked questions the lottery announced it was guaranteed to be won on a certain weekend, and it was it just so happens the winning numbers were suddenly bought by someone.

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    Mute George Dempsey
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:16 PM

    @M G: misinformation, reason why it was guaranteed to be won is if nobody got The six numbers it would go to 5+ and so on until it was won

    51
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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:36 PM

    @M G: and the winner was the cousin of the lotto cfo. Disgraceful conduct that needs a PUBLIC ENQUIRY

    72
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    Mute Llennoc
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    Oct 16th 2024, 6:54 PM

    @Buster Lawless: Never heard that. Perhaps it’s just not true.

    21
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    Mute 6gRrQtLn
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    Oct 16th 2024, 7:31 PM

    @Llennoc: if busters lips move he’s guaranteed to be lying, caught him out numerous times yesterday,

    19
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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 8:31 PM

    @6gRrQtLn: says the big cycling cheater fanboy, hoodwinked everyone for years.

    3
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    Mute Mick Scanlan
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    Oct 16th 2024, 1:23 PM

    No one is playing but GAMBLING which is no 1 scourge above drink and below street drugs. Getting women to spend half their pension in a post office is sickening .now they are rigging the computer

    181
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    Mute Conrad Stapletwin
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    Oct 16th 2024, 2:06 PM

    @Mick Scanlan: So, GAMBLING is the no.2 scourge is what you’re trying to say?

    Who exactly is “getting women to spend half their pension in a post office”?
    Is it only women effected by this scourge?

    FYI – Gambling doesn’t kill people like alcohol and hard drugs sometimes do.

    41
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    Mute marklars81
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:09 PM

    @Conrad Stapletwin: You haven’t a clue pal. Problem gambling is rampant in this country. I’m speaking from experience and it affects every facet of society. You could blow 50k in no time where as you’d take some amount of time to drink that or put it up your nose.

    116
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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:33 PM

    @marklars81: yes they are dragging the country down and stealing the profits for themselves

    16
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    Mute Mick Scanlan
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:47 PM

    @Conrad Stapletwin: do you have any idea that running up a gambling debt do to a family or a individual. A great deal of suicides attributed to it .no one is asking anyone to buy the cards but even the supermarkets were asked to pull sweets away from the till. Take them out of post offices

    38
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    Mute Conrad Stapletwin
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:55 PM

    @marklars81: How many deaths directly linked to problem gambling has there been in Ireland in the past 12 months? The number if miniscule vs alcohol and hard drugs.

    There was over 1k alcohol related deaths in Ireland in 2023 alone.

    I know of people that have OD’d and subsequently died spending less than €100 on the drug that took their life.

    If anyone hasn’t a clue it’s you and I’m not your pal, buddy.

    13
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    Mute Conrad Stapletwin
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:56 PM

    @Mick Scanlan: How many lottery related suicides were there in Ireland in the past 12 months?

    9
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    Mute Ian
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    Oct 16th 2024, 4:03 PM

    @Conrad Stapletwin: Gambling destroys lives and families. It’s a scourge on Irish society. Plenty of info and stats to be found out there if you’d bother to look.

    37
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    Mute Conrad Stapletwin
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    Oct 16th 2024, 4:06 PM

    @Ian: I know the statistics. Everything I’ve said is 100% correct.

    10
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    Mute HAC
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    Oct 16th 2024, 9:39 PM

    @Conrad Stapletwin: a lot of gamblers lose their mind, drain their savings, might have loan sharks on their back and end up taking their lives. Don’t dismiss gambling as not as “bad” as drink and drugs, it’s all addiction and addiction works the same way for everyone, it’s a disease of the mind and that disease wants you dead.

    10
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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 1:30 PM

    This was done on purposes. Stealing from the little man

    97
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    Mute FoxyBoiiYT
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    Oct 16th 2024, 1:54 PM

    @Buster Lawless: You support the alledged billionaire (Trump) who doesn’t pay taxes yet purport to be on the side of the little man? You simply cannot square that circle. Makes zero sense

    101
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    Mute Martin Kenny
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    Oct 16th 2024, 2:12 PM

    @Buster Lawless: I think they would have went fot more a couple of thousand if they were trying to steal

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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:16 PM

    @FoxyBoiiYT: I’m back kamala now. I’ve seen the videos of trump with Diddy so I cannot back him anymore

    6
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    Mute Tricia G28
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:29 PM

    @Buster Lawless: So the ones of him with Epstein hadn’t convinced you?

    Nor him being found liable for raping E.Jean Carroll?

    Nor the dozens of credible claims by other women that he assaulted them?

    Nor his own words on the Access Hollywood bus?

    Who do you think you’re kidding?

    21
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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:46 PM

    @Tricia G28: I didn’t see the one sith epstein as he was whacked.

    2
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    Mute Daniel Skelton
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    Oct 16th 2024, 5:05 PM

    @FoxyBoiiYT: How has an article about the lottery derailed into a Trump discussion?

    13
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    Mute Super241946
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    Oct 16th 2024, 9:07 PM

    @FoxyBoiiYT: Didn’t Mr Trump explain during one of his speeches that he uses the system to avoid paying tax just like all the hundreds of billionaires and millionaires in America. If he committing a crime the IRS would be on to him in a flash. Dry your eyes FoxyBoi.

    2
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    Mute FoxyBoiiYT
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    Oct 17th 2024, 12:43 AM

    @Super241946: If he committed a crime? IF? You’re hilarious

    7
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    Mute Fredrick Dooley
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    Oct 16th 2024, 2:29 PM

    I love playing the Lotto and backing horses

    27
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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:35 PM

    @Fredrick Dooley: be careful you could be sucked into the gutter in no time

    12
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    Mute Fredrick Dooley
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:49 PM

    @Buster Lawless: not at all, I’m not weak

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    Mute robbie scanlon
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    Oct 16th 2024, 4:55 PM

    @Fredrick Dooley: nothing to do with strength or weakness. Gambling effects the brain’s dopamine system same as Cocaine, Heroin and Methamphetamine

    15
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    Mute Fredrick Dooley
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    Oct 16th 2024, 5:18 PM

    @robbie scanlon: I’m always happy

    5
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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 5:31 PM

    @Fredrick Dooley: not when you lose thousands

    6
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    Mute Fredrick Dooley
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    Oct 16th 2024, 5:35 PM

    @Buster Lawless: not when family members die either, but there ya go

    7
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    Mute Buster Lawless
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    Oct 16th 2024, 6:20 PM

    @Fredrick Dooley: exactly..just try and stop it now before it’s too late.

    2
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    Mute wwvCLOuF
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:53 PM

    What’s to say this type of glitch hasn’t happened before/multiple times before? I often think about the lottery’s weekly profit from the public, the outtake for different charities, the price of in-house admin, advertising, staff wages etc (are there shareholders too?), then offset that to wonder if its relative to the weekly jackpot increase (500,000 apprx?) when not won.

    24
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    Mute robbie scanlon
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    Oct 16th 2024, 4:50 PM

    That’s fraud. Someone should go to jail

    33
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    Mute Thesaltyurchin
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    Oct 16th 2024, 7:53 PM

    @robbie scanlon: Private sector, we really do need another RTE article.

    5
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    Mute David Stewart
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    Oct 16th 2024, 4:33 PM

    The bondholders gambled, bank went down. Bondholders still won.
    Gambled on the lottery 2022 or maybe still today. you may have won, and if you did YIPPEE, you lost. Not really fair.

    18
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    Mute Paddy
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    Oct 16th 2024, 5:47 PM

    No way of finding out now if I was one of the “unlucky” lucky ones…or is it the other way round?

    15
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    Mute Padraig O'Brien
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    Oct 16th 2024, 3:46 PM

    Who can I sue?

    13
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    Mute MIchael Costello
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    Oct 16th 2024, 4:43 PM

    I don’t know if it’s a small comfort, but I don’t think you can be born with an addiction to gambling, unlike drink and drugs,prescribed or not. It is hard to gamble if you are under the age of 18. You can’t enter a betting shop, you can’t enter a casino , you can’t buy lotto tickets over the counter. You don’t find lotto tickets lying around the house on shelves beside the open bottles of alcohol or in the medicine cabinets. Unlike alcohol and drugs, gambling is an invisable addiction and can destroy lives and families.

    14
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    Mute odie Behan
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    Oct 16th 2024, 9:06 PM

    @MIchael Costello: 10year olds are playing pitch and toss, kids are hooked into gambling long before junior cert, I’m afraid you really don’t know what you’re talking about tbh, no offence but you really don’t have a clue.

    7
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    Mute MIchael Costello
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    Oct 16th 2024, 11:41 PM

    @odie Behan: No offence taken at all.

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    Mute martin finnegan
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    Oct 16th 2024, 1:39 PM

    Great so saying could be off work today

    9
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    Mute Gavin Smartr
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    Oct 16th 2024, 7:13 PM

    Another important news story buried until enough time had lapsed to render it worthy of a half assed report. If this had only happened last week it would have been a much bigger deal. For one people may still have there tickets to check for themselves.

    13
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    Mute Phillip Smyth
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    Oct 16th 2024, 5:55 PM

    Won it once that’s enough never do it again

    7
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    Mute Larry Betts
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    Oct 16th 2024, 8:46 PM

    Playing the Lotto and hoping to win is like watching snooker on tv. They’re both a load of balls.

    13
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