Mr. Joe Keeling:

That is correct. I thank the Chairman for the invitation to address this committee. It was on 14 February last year that I first sat before the members to present my credentials as chairman designate of Horse Racing Ireland. I formally took over from the previous chairman, Denis Brosnan, in March of last year. My background lies in family business where I have been chairman and chief executive officer, CEO, of the Keeling Group, a multinational group of companies employing in excess of 1,600 people in Ireland, England and Holland. Having overseen its development from a fresh produce grower in the 1970s, I retired as CEO in March 2013.

My strong interest in horse racing stretches back 60 years, having been a racegoer, a sponsor, an owner, a breeder and a director of Fairyhouse Racecourse. That experience, along with my business background and my belief that horse racing and breeding is the sort of industry to help Ireland recover from recession, is what allowed me to take this role.

When I last addressed the committee I outlined four key priorities for developing and securing the thoroughbred sector in Ireland. I said we needed to achieve a long-term secure funding base arising from the changes in betting tax, that we needed to increase prize money to ensure owners have an incentive to keep horses training in Ireland, that we must reduce the cost of the sector, in particular from streamlining the activities of the Turf Club and Horse Racing Ireland, HRI, and that we must focus on race course development.

To do all of this we need secure funding. That leads me to my primary aim today, which is to emphasise the importance of a long-term secure funding system arising from the changes in the betting tax. At 1%, Ireland has the lowest betting regime in the world. The Minister, Deputy Coveney, published the findings of the Indecon report in July 2012, which strongly supported the sufficient and sustainable funding for the sector. On that day almost two years ago, the Minister pointed out that the Government had recently published the Betting (Amendment) Bill 2012 to put into effect the extension of the betting duty to remote and online betting operators. We still look forward to seeing its implementation.

Last year, I also spoke of the need to reduce costs through, among other measures, streamlining the activities of HRI and The Turf Club, which is another strong recommendation in the Indecon report.

Progress in this regard has been painfully slow. This is very disappointing and frustrating as it is necessary to deliver cost reductions to all participants in the sport. The Bill sets out the way to make that much-needed progress. I welcome its publication and ask the committee to recommend its early introduction.

My colleague, Mr. Kavanagh, will go through the detail of the Bill. In addition to his role as chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, he holds various international positions, including chairman of the European Pattern Committee and vice chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities. His leading role in these international bodies reflects the high regard in which Irish racing is held internationally.