Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

The first question concerned the status of the Turf Club and the conferring of statutory functions on a private body. We are not starting from a blank page with horse racing in Ireland and we are dealing with a long tradition of 150 years of the Turf Club, which has performed integrity functions in a way that has brought a degree of credit to the industry in Ireland, which is very highly regarded. Since 1994 we have developed a State body for developing the industry as apart from being a sport, it is a very important industry that provides 17,000 jobs, with exports exceeding €200 million and output of €1 billion.

The general scheme would not confer new functions on the Turf Club and these are the functions it has always had. For a considerable period, it has had the functions on the basis of statutory provision. The general scheme would bring the Turf Club within a tighter governance structure, so its finances can be examined in the context of determining what kind of funding is required for integrity processes. I take the Deputy's point of principle. The Department does not control the internal processes of the Turf Club and it does not intend to do so. Nevertheless, we are not starting from a blank page and we have a well-established structure which has served the industry well.