Mr. Kevin Murphy:

There was a case in 2012 where Manchester City won the English Premiership not with the last kick of the game but the last kick of the season. That event was decided when the referee blew the final whistle after the last kick of the season. With racing - either horse or dog racing - there are examples every day of the week where horses or dogs win by a nose, which is the minimum distance in racing. The event is decided only at its conclusion. That is why the legislation must encompass such words in its definition.

I was asked about virtual racing as well. Virtual racing was introduced to the market in January 2003 and evidence was given to the committee last week that it was a response to the foot and mouth disease outbreak in the country in 2001. That is not completely true, as it was introduced in 2003 as a response by the UK bookmakers when they tried to formulate a mechanism to avoid paying a levy on live horse racing to the horse racing levy board in the United Kingdom. Virtual racing was introduced to the market by a company called 49s Limited, which was wholly owned by the three major bookmaker organisations in the UK. It was broadcast to the market - as we heard in evidence last week - by a company called Satellite Information Services, SIS, which was almost totally owned by the UK headquartered bookmakers.

I will read from the 49s Limited virtual racing blurb. It states: "Virtual racing is a computer-generated presentation of a horse or greyhound race. A random number generator determines the first, second, third and the rest of the finishing order after the start of each race." The result is known before the event is over. It continues, "All runners have fixed odds that reflect their chance of winning." With this betting proposition, the company promoting it is owned by a bookmaker and the company that broadcasts it is substantially bookmaker-owned. The result is known at the start of the event and not at the conclusion.

The advocates of virtual racing would lead us to believe the entire process is supervised and monitored by a firm of auditors. We all know, to our cost in Ireland, what supervision by a firm of auditors means.