Over a third of people under the age of 18 have been sold Lottery scratch cards in Irish shops.
This study, carried out across 510 retailers nationwide, was conducted by the Regulator of the National Lottery is the first of its kind in Ireland.
By law, shops aren't allowed to sell lotto tickets to anyone under 18 years of age, and are also required to display a mandatory ‘Over 18’ sign.
Shops are also required to ask for photo ID where the customer is not clearly 18.
The regulator asked test purchasers aged between 15 and 17 to buy a €1 scratch card.
38% of the time they were sold the tickets, while 37% of the sample weren't asked for ID.
Dublin shops were found to be the worst when it came to asking for ID.
Meanwhile 27% of shops were not displaying the mandatory over 18 sign, with stores in Connacht and Ulster the most likely to have it on display.
The National Lottery has acknowledged the findings and says it's committed to undertaking further work, along with its retailers to stop the sale of National Lottery products to under 18s.
It says all retailers are contractually obliged not to sell National Lottery games to under 18s, and training is provided to ensure this is enforced.
