Mr. Denis Egan:

On behalf of everybody at the Turf Club I wish to thank the committee for taking the time to listen to us this afternoon. We really appreciate it. Our main message is that we would like any new legislation affecting the horse racing industry to unequivocally endorse the need for fully independent regulation of the industry by recognising that the regulator has sole responsibility for regulation. An effective regulator must be independent of commercial interests to carry out its functions and in that context, must be financially independent. We would be very grateful if committee members would take those basic points on board.