Mr. Derek Iceton:

I thank Senator Mooney for his questions. I am not a taxation specialist but I have the figures in front of me. If we go back to 1998, the level of duty was 10%. It was reduced to 5% in 2002 and in July 2006 it was reduced to 1%. While it is hard to work out the industry norm, work that has been done for us indicates that the average rate of betting duty throughout the world is about 7.7%. In Britain, our nearest neighbour, the basic level of duty is 2.5% plus an additional 1.5% for racing. With regard to the level of taxation in this country going to 2%, about which bid makers seem to quibble, they are able to work with double that level of taxation sometimes in their own home country, and that slightly throws me to one side.

Following on from Senator Mooney's question is the question of what we need to do with our money. The basis of our business is prize money. If the prize money is right, people will invest and if people invest, it will keep the jockeys and trainers in business and, ultimately, fellows like me who are breeders. That is why we need more money coming into the industry. It is a trickle-down effect in that prize money lifts all boats.

Deputy Ferris asked about persons with knowledge being board nominees and perhaps one of them being nominated by the jockeys. Specifically in regard to the Act, it states that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine will have three ministerial appointees. That is fine because obviously if the Department of Finance is investing a good deal of money in us, the least we can give back is transparency in respect of the money with some relevance and regard to the Oireachtas. Our only request is that among those three people would be someone with either a working or a decent knowledge of the industry. It is a difficult business; it is not like any other one. We are very fortunate that the previous chairman of Horse Racing Ireland was Denis Brosnan, who was a very good breeder, understood the industry and was a very good businessman. They are the sort of people we need, rather than somebody who is just good in business and sees this as just an ordinary business enterprise. It is quite different.