Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

We engaged in consultation with other Departments before drafting the heads of the Bill. This head is as a result of a request from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Essentially it is a provision that requires the racing regulatory body, which receives, if one excludes the Curragh and the Gallops from its finances, about 80% of the remainder of its income from the Exchequer through HRI.
This provision requires the racing regulatory body to keep accounts, which it does of course, and to publish them. It requires the body to be amenable to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General, which it is not at present. It requires the chief executive to be amenable to committees of the Oireachtas, where he is required to do so.
This is a question of good practice. I do not believe that the racing regulatory body or anybody associated with it will have any difficulty whatsoever with this provision. I think the body is quite happy to open its books and be amenable to the Oireachtas.
There is an item that deserves specific mention under head 12(5). We have already spoken about the Minister's power to obtain information and give a direction to HRI. This is part of that cascade of accountability. Head 12 (5) states:

Subject to subsection (6),the Racing Regulatory Body shall whenever requested by HRI, furnish information in relation to its functions under section 39(including such information in relation to its income derived from its statutory functions in order to assist HRI in determining annual budget requirements) as is specified in the request.

It is the normal cascade of accountability. If the Exchequer is giving the racing regulatory body funding for its integrity functions, it is only reasonable that one should know how it is going to be spent and its budgetary situation. In recognition of the particular importance of an independent integrity function, we have tagged on subsection (6) which suggests that a request by HRI under that section shall not compromise the racing regulatory body's provision of integrity services. It states, "(6) A request by HRI under subsection (5) shall not compromise the Racing Regulatory Body’s provision of integrity services." That is built in. I wish to make the point about the representative nature of the HRI board and the fact that it does have three Turf Club people on it and increased ministerial representations. The process is reasonably robust and protects the taxpayer in a more explicit way and also protects the integrity function of the racing regulatory body which is critically important for the functioning of the industry.