Mr. John Moloney:

As one of the people present in 2011, I believe we had every confidence that the chairman was to deal with the outstanding matter of the chief executive officer's contract. As I said in my statement, the chairman was dealing with the relevant Departments and was to come back to the board when ready to do so. The then chairman, Mr. Brosnan, passed on the task to Mr. Keeling. I was waiting for Mr. Keeling to come back to us regarding this chief executive officer's position.

With regard to the view that Mr. Brian Kavanagh was the best man for the job, it is fair to say he has a wonderful record in Irish racing. He is a chartered accountant by trade. He was manager of the Curragh Racecourse and financial officer and chief executive officer of the Turf Club. He has been chief executive officer of Horse Racing Ireland since 2001. His experience and knowledge of this great industry, as it was referred to already today, is very good. He is chairman of the European Pattern Committee. He is chairman of the European and Mediterranean Horseracing Federation and also vice-chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, which has 69 members. He has an excellent record.

The chairman was asked about whether there was an interview for the job. As the chairman stated, Mr. Kavanagh has gone through two interviews and won them. The possibility of anybody beating him would not have arisen.