Mr. Brian Kavanagh:

If Deputy Heydon felt a fixtures decision was biased it would not be an issue for the racing regulatory body. Rather, it would be an issue for the aggrieved party to take up through the various normal governance channels. The fixtures process is a consultative process and for the past three months the fixtures committee has been sending drafts to racecourses seeking input and opinions. If a racecourse is not satisfied with an issue, which may have nothing to do with bias, there is a facility to make an appeal to the board of Horse Racing Ireland. If people feel something is profoundly unfair the normal governance structures exist to deal with it. The nature of Horse Racing Ireland is the need to balance competing interests and priorities. I am sure everyone who comes before this committee says his or her interests are most important and that racing would not survive without them. One of the beauties of racing is that all interested parties need each other. The beauty of Horse Racing Ireland is it creates a forum to bring the parties around one table. I am happy to go through this with Deputy Heydon.