Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand the other Deputies' frustration and I am not sure the delegates get it. It is a debacle and I am not sure they realise the seriousness of the issue. In layman's language, the reason we are here is that there is a belief the board, or at least a substantial part of it, was, in essence, bypassed by Mr. Keeling and perhaps one or two others who, basically, more or less went a solo run to strike a deal with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to reappoint Mr. Brian Kavanagh, specifically against the wishes of the Department of Finance and all rules of corporate governance for State bodies. That is serious. The board may ultimately have voted to back that position, but it is not accidental that it was faced with the decision initially in July, when the Dáil was in recess, and finally in September, when, exactly as Mr. Powell said, the spectacle of two Ministers being embarrassed was evident.

The Minister has questions to answer also. We were told at the time that the reason was a business case had been submitted by Horse Racing Ireland, HRI. It is now clear that the business case which it has reiterated was along the lines of, "Big Brian is the best man for the job and everybody knows it. What is your problem? Move on." That is not good enough and Deputy Martin Kenny's question has not been answered. I honestly thought the delegates would come up with a different answer, but they have said that the succession plan was Mr. Kavanagh. It was unlawful for HRI to do this. The Horse Racing Ireland (Membership) Act 2001 specifically states the office shall be held for five years.