Mr. Mike O'Kane:

I thank members of the joint committee. I wish to pick up a couple of comments from Senator O'Neill and Deputy Heydon. To me, it all seems to come together at the relationship between the various parties. We have discussed representation and committees not being used to exercise power but to get information and expertise to come together to the benefit of all, which is very important. A question was asked on the use of expertise from elsewhere and while I would not wish to appear before the committee and hold up the United Kingdom as an example of the ultimate, I refer to one useful area within the United Kingdom's structure. As members are aware, the Horserace Betting Levy Board brings in the funds and then, with the British Horseracing Authority, BHA, distributes them through various prize funds and fixtures committees. It has a betting patterns working group on which I sit and is the only group of which I am aware that has bookmakers present. It includes the racecourse companies, the Racecourse Association, the horsemen's representatives, the BHA and the Horserace Betting Levy Board. That group comes together, shares a lot of the data on performance, betting rights and so forth and then makes recommendations that are fed into the levy board. As for the proposed committees under discussion here, it would be useful to be able to get to the point at which one has that shared expertise whereby people are open and are able to provide data and think about how the quality of the product here might be expanded. I would recommend that as an example of how it works better somewhere else.

In respect of the fixture committee, one point that is clear is when it comes to the value of fixtures and when one seeks to monetise this value through media rights, Irish racing is not a sole seller in this regard as it competes with racing in the United Kingdom. When, in my Ladbrokes capacity, I look to buy picture rights for horse racing here in Ireland, Belgium, Spain or the United Kingdom, I will look at a number of products. One would be the cost per meeting to buy from the United Kingdom or Ireland but more importantly, how does it fit into the programme. One piece of work carried out by the betting pattern working group concerned clashes between Irish racing and United Kingdom racing. I accept fully the point made by Mr. Meade that one must protect the pattern.

At the same time, when it comes to selling its product in 2016 or 2017 - whenever the media deal expires - Irish racing will, for all the right reasons, want to be in a position to say it has a product that stands up against the UK media product. As a bookmaker, I will have to decide what I want to buy. Work that can be done by the individuals here and in Horse Racing Ireland in the interim could put the industry in a position where it can maximise its media rights payments from the UK and elsewhere. There may be some small adjustments to be made, such as having races at Dundalk on one additional evening per week, for example. The funding figure at this time is €30 million, but it will probably be something different in 2017 and 2018. That is the way to commercialise the industry.

When it comes to media rights, it is important to remember that there is no right in terms of what one will get paid, and Irish racing has to compete with UK racing. The industry in our neighbouring country is very concerned about whether UK bookmakers will buy Irish rather than UK. It will be a very competitive market. I would welcome the opportunity to participate in committees, either as a standing member or adviser, to offer what expertise I can to the bookmaking sector.