Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation. I have a couple of brief questions that follow on from other members' questions. The federation says - and nobody debates this - that it is the industry's watchdog. However, a number of other organisations around the country would argue that they are also watchdogs. Does the federation represent all the owners and breeders in the country?

We have heard a lot from the Minister about the Indecon report, and it has come up in a lot of the discussion so far. Was the federation asked to provide input, or did it give any input to the Indecon report? Did it accept the report's 27 recommendations from start to finish? The Minister acknowledged that the Indecon report would form the basis of the Bill that is coming down the track in the next number of months. There are a lot of recommendations regarding drug testing and finance, which the federation mentions as well.

The federation has summarised its issues into three specific points - the non–implementation of rules and regulations, the financial situation and the drugs issue.

Regarding the financial situation, and I think my colleague Senator Ó Domhnaill may have spoken of this earlier, one of the key recommendations in the Indecon report is asset disposal and Harold’s Cross is obviously the main issue there. The Minister said he has asked different organisations and subsidiaries of the business to come up with alternatives in alleviating the €22 million deficit. Did the Minister ask the federation this question? Did the Minister ask the federation to come up with different proposals and, if so, what are these proposals and when does the federation intend putting them on the table for discussion?

I will now turn to the drug issue. Does the federation believe there is a massive drug issue in the industry? Does it have evidence of a drugs issue and what does it propose could be done to make the industry a better place? Everybody here wants to achieve one thing; a better greyhound industry where it will be better for spectators, owners and breeders, with everyone pulling together. In order for that to happen there needs to be unity of purpose to achieve the common goal. What, in the federation's view, is the best way of doing that?