National Lottery Commission It was not the NLC’s responsibility to distribute the good causes funds. There are 14 Lottery distributors who distribute the money to local communities and national projects. The National Lottery is operated by Camelot Group under a licence that was awarded to them by the Commission following a competition to select the operator. The competition for the third Lottery licence took place between January 2005 and August 2007. The Invitation to Apply (ITA) was the formal invitation to bid for the licence and was published on 29 June 2006. Bids were received from Camelot Group plc and Sugal & Damani
National Lottery (Ireland) of the new company. The process of finalizing the lottery contracts was delayed due to an industrial dispute involving the employees of An Post National Lottery Company over the terms and conditions of staff transfers to Premier Lotteries Ireland, but the dispute was resolved in February 2014, and contracts were signed on 27 February 2014. Some of the funds paid to the Irish state will be used for a range of local infrastructural projects, including the construction of a National Children's Hospital. The National Lottery began gaming operations on 23 March 1987, when it launched its first scratchcards. Since then,