Dr. David McGrath:

In one section about the functions of the authorised officers, it was not clear to us whether the authorised officers are currently the control stewards employed by the board or coursing club, or a new group more like a flying squad. They have very extensive powers. Our view has always been that the testing should really be one separate issue. At the moment, the control stewards are doing a wonderful job. Most of them are doing their best to try to police the situation. It is very difficult. They could be at Ms McCann's house in the afternoon marking up her pups and having a cup of tea, and then in the evening they could be testing samples on her dogs. That is a very difficult position for them to be in. It seems much more appropriate to have teams that just do the testing and leave the control stewards to manage the control of the industry.