Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There appears to have been a total breakdown in communication between the Irish Greyhound Board, the industry and industry stakeholders. Repairing that breakdown must be the overlying objective if we are to bring confidence back to the sector. The question, of course, is how one goes about doing it. The Indecon report highlights many shortcomings that must be addressed one by one, including issues of financial oversight, day-to-day management and projection planning. The most recent strategic plan objectives for year one fall far short of what is in the IGB's own plan. That is an issue we have not touched on today and is, perhaps, a matter for another day.

I wish to make clear that I have absolutely no vested interest in this sector. We have a very fine, privately owned greyhound stadium in County Donegal which I understand is in difficulty and could potentially be put on the market. Apart from once attending a greyhound stadium on a social occasion, I would not know one end of a greyhound from the other. So far as I can see, however, the underlying issue is a lack of confidence in the sector itself. I will draw a parallel with cycling, which may or may not be a fair thing to do. Everybody knows about Lance Armstrong and the impact on that sport of the revelations about him. The elephant in the room in cycling has been the drugs scandal. Looking at it from the outside, without any vested interest whatsoever, it seems to me there also is an elephant in the room when it comes to greyhound racing. It is something that is affecting the confidence of the sector and the buy-in in terms of getting new breeders and syndicates on board. Why would anybody want to get involved in greyhound racing if there is a suspicion - even if it is nothing more than a suspicion - of generic and wide-scale doping in the industry, in a context where we do not have the testing mechanisms in place to determine whether or not the winner of last year's derby or this year's derby was legitimate?

Reference was made to control samples being sent to Britain. I understand from the Indecon report that 7, 307 tests were conducted in 2013, but I am not sure how many of those were sent to Britain. Was the Indecon consultant fully briefed by the IGB in regard to the type of water-based testing that is done here and the availability of oil-based testing in the UK? That is not referred to in the report, which is either a shortcoming on Indecon's part or a shortcoming on the part of the IGB in terms of its responsibility to inform the consultant about the different types of testing. I recognise that the laboratories will calibrate the type of testing and follow industry best practice. The Australian model is being used here, as I understand it.

I acknowledge, too, that the control committee is entirely legislatively independent of the IGB. However, the Indecon report indicated that the IGB itself questioned the control committee's findings and rubbished samples that were taken on certain occasions. That raises questions, as Deputy Ferris noted. I am not sure who sits on the control committee. Are its members entirely independent or do they have any vested interests in the sector? In my view, any member of a control committee should have no such interests and, in this particular case, no link to any animal or trainer. I presume that is the case - if not, it is something that must be rectified urgently. Certainly, it would be alarming if any control committee - for one reason or another, and the reasons are outlined in the Indecon report - should rubbish samples that tested positive.

The drug-testing issue is one that needs to be challenged head on. I am not sure what the plan is in this regard and I have not heard a great deal today in terms of any absolute plan. There was no indication, for example, that the board intends to follow the UK drug-testing mechanism or how it will deal with and challenge the lack of confidence across the water in Irish greyhound racing. Perhaps that is a conversation for another day when the new chief executive officer has had more time to reflect and plan. It is something that must be challenged in a forthright way. I urge the IGB, both board and staff, to reach out and listen to stakeholders, breeders, trainers and all involved in the industry. Without those people, who very often are giving of their time on a voluntary basis, we will not have an industry in five or ten years time.