Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. Adding to what Deputy Heydon has said, what are the witnesses' views regarding the sustainability of the voluntary aspect of the future of the Turf Club and the racing regulatory body? It has 167 members, four of which are selected to steward throughout Ireland. This is very admirable but I would be interested in hearing the views of the witnesses.

Deputy Heydon spoke earlier about doing more with less. Could the witnesses expand on the cost saving that has taken place and the streamlining that has happened so far? Savings of €1.5 million were referred to. This is how this all started. We have a very good Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The man is a genius and looks at areas of business. We are all in a new era. I am so impressed with the presentation today and how we are seen globally as being crystal clear with regard to how we regulate racing, yet we are all here to look at these heads of Bill so that we can keep the regulation clean and to the points made today by the Turf Club. We must find a way to do it in as cost-effective a way as possible. The registration of silks and entries does not make me feel that this has anything to do with the rules of racing but perhaps it does. Could the witnesses expand on that?

We heard earlier from the Association of Irish Racecourses. Does the Turf Club own the Curragh Racecourse? It does. We are very lucky with the Curragh Racecourse because it is the headquarters of Irish racing. I think it is the only racecourse in the world that runs five group 1 classics. I have been out of racing for a long time but I recall that there was rather a large sum of money - I think it was upwards of €18 million - to invest in the upgrading of the Curragh Racecourse, which has never happened.

I would like to hear some comments about the past and plans for the future. We can speak about having the best horses in the world but we also must have the best facilities. This is the headquarters and I want to hear more about what happened.

I also ask for comment on the patent committee and the views of the witnesses on the heads of the Bill and working together with HRI. In an international context, such collaboration has been successful in the past. The chairman of HRI spoke about the derby earlier this year because the French changed one of the fixtures that stopped international runners coming to our derby. It is important that we get that right.