The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has informed me that at the end of 2025, the number of unclaimed prizes or prizes not claimed due to the person who held them being deceased, amounted to €5.35 million. This figure is reported in the Prize Bond Company (PBC) annual report each year.
Unclaimed prizes are defined as not claimed, or settled in the case of a deceased estate, after six months. It should be noted that the PBC communicates with every prize winner at the address given to the NTMA by the holder at time of purchase or updated by them. It should be noted that the PBC reviews all large prizes (€1,000 and above) that move to the unclaimed list each month and customers receive a second communication.
Recent draw results are listed on the Ireland State Savings website, www.StateSavings.ie and there is a search facility where customers can enter a bond number to check for prize winnings. It is important to note that prizes are held indefinitely until claimed by a bond holder.
In relation to the unclaimed prizes due to the person who held them being deceased, in about 50% of the total unclaimed prizes the NTMA have been notified of the death of the bondholder. As mentioned in the previous response to PQ Dáil reference no. 985 answered in Tuesday, 14 April last, when informed by a relative or a legal representative, PBC has a comprehensive process in place to identify and amalgamate all Prize Bond holdings of a deceased individual. Upon notification of a death, the Bereavement Support Team undertakes extensive searches across historic and current records, including variations of names and addresses, to ensure all relevant holdings are identified.
The Legal Personal Representative (LPR) is then provided with a full value of account of the deceased’s Prize Bond holdings to assist with probate and estate administration.
In the past 5 years PBC has issued over 36,000 statements to customers.
Statements
*This does not include Statements of Account generated through State Savings Online.
|
Year
|
Statements
|
|
2021
|
5,068
|
|
2022
|
6,044
|
|
2023
|
8,829
|
|
2024
|
6,342
|
|
2025
|
7,454
|
|
2026 YTD
|
2,442
|
|
Total
|
36,179
|
The total customer base is approx. 2.99 million customers with 2.4 million holding a value of €100 or less. To support their customers, in recent years Ireland State Savings has made significant enhancements to its digital capabilities. Customers can now register digitally for State Savings Online where they can view their Prize Bond holdings, see any Prize Bond winnings and receive notifications of activity on Prize Bond holdings. It also allows them to notify the PBC of any other holdings they have which may have been purchased under a different name (maiden for example) or under a different address and have them amalgamated into their holdings online. The NTMA encourage customers to register for State Savings Online and will continue to make digital enhancements to support their customers in managing Prize Bond holdings.
Given the above response and the processes in place, I have no plans to commission a review as suggested by the Deputy.
