Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I would like to be associated with a lot of what Senator Ó Domhnaill has said. This whole debacle, which has been ongoing for a considerable length of time, is a contributing factor in the position in which the greyhound industry now finds itself. Mr. Meaney said there has been an improvement and that €1 million has been paid off the debt. In fact, the IGB got €1.2 million from the State. Is that part of paying off the debt? If so, that is very misleading and does nothing to counter the strong points that have been made.

Mr. Meaney said the IGB has taken over all the food and beverage operations within its stadia and that this is a significant step. Again, the success or otherwise of that will be determined by the attendances.

There is a credibility factor. Mr. Meaney said that attendances have improved in 2015, that gate income is up and that concession fee income is up. That might be as a result of the turnaround, particularly in the summer period. In any event, in my county there is a fairly substantial increase in attendance relating to festivals. However, that is not going to work for every stadium and only certain stadia will be able to benefit.

What about the marketing of the entire industry? A part of marketing is reaching out to organisations that will use the facility and another part is giving confidence to breeders and dog owners. Part of that confidence is that they would have a decent income and not be at a loss at every single event, which appears to be the case. I would like Mr. Meaney to address that when he responds.