Griffin to be kept on as lottery boss by new private operator

National Lottery boss Dermot Griffin is to be kept on as chief executive by the new private operator of the franchise.

Mr Griffin will be appointed chief executive designate of Premier Lotteries Ireland, the incoming operator, once contracts finalising the €405 million sale of the lottery are signed.

Details of the arrangements were announced at a presentation to staff at the National Lottery’s Dublin headquarters earlier this week.

Consortium
The Premier Lotteries consortium, comprising UK lottery operator Camelot and An Post, is said to favour a policy of continuity within the company.

Under the proposed arrangements, Mr Griffin and his senior management team will transfer to the new operating entity when it takes over the business in October.

Executives from Camelot, its Canadian parent Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and An Post will also take up positions on the board of Premier Lotteries.

Mr Griffin has served as the National Lottery’s chief executive since 2006, during which time it has raised €2.1 billion for good causes and grown its retail network by more than 400 agents.

Digital sales channel
He is also credited with opening up the digital sales channel despite the restrictive trading conditions contained in the original operating legislation, which has been overhauled as part of the privatisation process.

However, Mr Griffin and his team face an uphill task to reverse five years of declining sales, which have seen turnover fall from a 2008 peak of €840 million to €735 million in 2012.

The sales figures for 2013 have not yet been released.

The Government had been due to sign contracts with Premier Lotteries at the beginning of December, but the sale of the franchise has been delayed because of an industrial relations row over the proposed transfer of staff to the new operator.

The 103 staff at the National Lottery’s Dublin headquarters, most of whom are on permanent secondment from An Post, are seeking certain assurances relating to future job security before they transfer.

The three unions representing staff are due to ballot members later this month on Labour Relations Commission proposals aimed at breaking the impasse.

According to the proposals, the staff would transfer to Premier Lotteries under the transfer of undertakings legislation, which guarantees their basic pay and conditions.

Right to transfer
They will also be afforded the right to transfer to other parts of the Civil Service if they can be facilitated.

Staff are seeking a once-off “recognition payment” as part of the transfer to the new operator.

The “golden handcuff” claim is understood to be one of the issues delaying the process.

Although no figure has been attached to the request, the unions are expected to demand a payment equivalent to at least five weeks’ salary.

The Government is expected to sign contracts with Premier Lotteries as early as next month if the three unions vote in favour of the proposals.

"Work on the finalisation of the licence is continuing and is expected to be concluded shortly," a Department of Public Expenditure and Reform spokeswoman said yesterday. Premier Lotteries declined to comment.