Proposals to liberalise Northern Ireland’s lotteries market will harm the economy and the population, the Christian Institute (CI) has warned.
The UK charity came out to publicly criticise the “Lotteries for Communities Bill” introduced earlier this year by Sian Mulholland, North Antrim MLA from the Alliance Party.
With Northern Ireland mandating much tougher lottery regulations compared to the rest of the UK, Mulholland’s Bill wants to see society lotteries like the People’s Postcode Lottery operating there unobstructed and “create a whole new stream of funding for the community and voluntary sector”.
The idea has since seen heavy criticism from actors who state that it will have the exact opposite effect – CI being one of them.
The religious charity has referenced a recent UK Government research as its main talking point against such a move, citing increased problem gambling rates as their main concern from a potential liberalisation of societal lotteries.
The study itself said that of those playing only the National Lottery, only 4% were at risk of gambling harm. That number rose to 52% for those who played only societal lotteries.
James Kennedy, NI Policy Officer for The Christian Institute, said: “The last thing Northern Ireland needs is more gambling. This Bill would put vulnerable people at greater risk while delivering a net loss to the charitable sector”.
Another opponent to the Bill naturally was Allwyn, the operator of the UK’s National Lottery whose direct competitors include People’s Postcode Lottery and all other societal lotteries.
Allwyn noted that taking a softer approach to society lotteries will seriously hamper the National Lottery’s ability to continue its contributions to good causes in Northern Ireland, which make up part of the total £1.5bn in funding so far for UK charities, individuals and organisations.
The same study quoted by the CI indicated that the National Lottery will gradually lose its influence if lottery regulations are changed.