Mr. Phil Meaney:

We were very lucky that we had invested heavily in our facilities and stadia before the economy collapsed. In general, we have good facilities and infrastructure. With the passing of four or five years, the time has certainly come when facilities need a facelift. There are a few areas where we should invest. My neighbours in Kilkenny have a very good tourist city, but the facilities there are poor. It is certainly an area that needs investment. We need to develop the areas we will be looking at for income. Our tote has dropped down in recent years and we are working strongly to build it back up.

This will happen as disposable incomes increase. We are also pushing the sale of our products internationally, from which we would expect to get a good result. We are a little bit behind schedule for several reasons, but we expect to get a good income from the area.

The 30% reduction in the Horse and Greyhound Fund over the past several years has had a negative effect on our resources and our ability to invest in stadiums. Hopefully, we will be able to counter this with the stabilising of the fund, the increase in commingling arrangements for broadcasting and selling our media rights. It is interesting to hear our colleagues on the horse-racing side describe how important the sale of media rights is to them. We have sold the media rights for races out of Shelbourne Park but we need to develop it across the country. We are a bit behind schedule but it is in an area on which we are focusing.