Mr. Colin Walsh:

Disposable income plays a huge part in people's involvement, participation and attendance at the dogs for social events. During the course of the last ten years the Irish greyhound industry, the operations of the stadia, the participants in the industry, whether they own, breed, train dogs or attend as fans, were not immune to the crash that occurred in the industry. In terms of the pattern of decline, the largest decline occurred in the period up to 2012-13. In the intervening years, from 2014 to 2016, we have managed to stabilise the attendances and the revenues. Gate income for the first time in 2016 has stabilised and attendances stabilised over the 2014-15 period. In 2015, average gate attendances increased by 4% to 5% on what they were in 2014. We have achieved a marginal growth in 2016 of between 1% and 2% across the network.

From a marketing point of view, from 2014 onwards we have been building and upgrading the digital infrastructure and commercial competence of the organisation. Previously, the tools to deal with a changing consumer base did not exist. This year is the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, such that we have experienced a mobile and smart technology revolution in the past number of years. We have embraced that and built up an infrastructure and digital marketing strategy. As I said, we have upgraded all of the facilities and this is beginning to bear fruit. Our pre-book business has increased by 9% and our online revenue has increased for 23% - for the first time, it has passed €1 million. The organisation has had to adjust.