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How to get a club lotto licence or permit

Every Irish club running a paid lotto needs to be on the right side of the rules. There are three routes, and which one you need comes down to your ticket price and your prize fund. Here is a quick way to find yours, then the detail on each.

At a glance

  • Exemption, no licence or permit needed: tickets up to EUR5, prizes up to EUR2,000, no more than 1,500 tickets, and none in the previous 3 months.
  • Permit, issued by the Garda: tickets up to EUR10, total prize fund up to EUR5,000 for a weekly or other periodical lottery.
  • Licence, granted by the District Court: no limit on ticket price, total weekly prizes up to EUR30,000.

Route 1: the small lotto exemption

Up to EUR5 a ticket, up to EUR2,000 in prizes, and no licence or permit needed.

Under the small-scale exemption rules from the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), a club lotto qualifies if all of the following are true:

  • The promoter makes no personal profit, so it is run for a charitable or club purpose.
  • The total value of prizes is EUR2,000 or less.
  • The ticket price is EUR5 or less.
  • No more than 1,500 tickets are available for sale.
  • The club has not run a lottery under this exemption in the previous 3 months.

If any one of those does not hold, you move up to a permit or a licence.

Route 2: a lottery permit from the Garda

Up to EUR10 a ticket, up to EUR5,000 in prizes. Issued by the Garda.

A lottery permit is issued by a Garda Superintendent for your district. It allows a ticket price of up to EUR10 per ticket and a total prize fund of up to EUR5,000 for a weekly or other periodical lottery.

You apply for a lottery permit through gov.ie. The application goes to the Garda Superintendent of your district, and there is currently no application fee. Apply well in advance of your first lottery so the permit is in place before you sell a single ticket.

Route 3: a lottery licence from the District Court

Bigger prizes, with total weekly prizes up to EUR30,000. Granted by the District Court.

For a bigger lotto, you need a lottery licence granted by the District Court under the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 (as amended). A licence allows total weekly prizes of up to EUR30,000 where more than one lottery is held in a week, and there is no limit on ticket price.

A licence is granted for charitable or philanthropic causes only, such as sports clubs and community groups, not for the personal benefit of the promoter. You apply using court form 66.3, the application for a lottery licence.

Which one do we need?

Walk it top down:

  1. Are your prizes EUR2,000 or under, your tickets EUR5 or under, your run no more than 1,500 tickets, and you have not run an exemption lottery in the previous 3 months? The exemption covers you.
  2. If not, are your tickets up to EUR10 and your prize fund up to EUR5,000? You need a permit from the Garda.
  3. Bigger than that, up to EUR30,000 in weekly prizes? You need a District Court licence.

A note on getting it right

This is general guidance to help you find the right route. Confirm your own club's position with the relevant authority, whether that is GRAI, your local Garda district, or your District Court office.

Once the right authorisation is in place, Bluefundr runs the lotto for you online. Members buy tickets on their phones, the money goes straight to the club's own account, and there is no setup fee and no monthly fee. You sort the paperwork once, and the running of it each week takes care of itself.