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To ensure that everyone’s chances of winning the lottery are completely fair and random, NSAI’s National Metrology Laboratory measures and inspects lottery balls for the National Lottery.

NML perform elaborate and painstaking weight, dimensional and other measurements to make sure that only bounces, gravity and random chance account for who hits it big on Wednesday and Saturday nights National Lottery draws.

It’s essential that the weight, diameter, sphericity, surface texture and lozenge and font size of all lottery balls within a set are similar and within the permitted tolerances.  

NSAI’s National Metrology Laboratory maintain the national measurement standards for Ireland and houses a suite of precision mass and length measuring instrumentation at its Laboratory in Glasnevin.  Using its precision mass comparators and length standards the NML undertake a range of measurements on each lottery ball to ensure that no bias is present that could affect the draw result.  These draws are independently observed and adjudicated by KPMG.

In addition the NML and The National Lottery also perform repeatability and sampling tests on the lottery draw machine to ensure that each ball has an equal chance of being selected.

The measurements performed by NSAI together with the statistical sampling and independent monitoring undertaken by the National Lottery ensures that the Irish public have a fair and unbiased chance of realizing their dream.

Find out more about the service provided by the National Metrology Laboratory