Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 26 March 2019

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Greyhound Racing Bill 2018: Committee Stage

Photo of Andrew DoyleAndrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will take amendments Nos. 2 to 4, inclusive, regarding membership of the board, together. I will also try to answer the specific point raised by the Deputy.

In 2014, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and Marine, Deputy Coveney, commissioned Indecon consultants to carry out a review of Bord na gCon. At that time, the board had debts of €23 million, largely due to investment in Limerick stadium. That debt has hindered development of the industry ever since.

One of the aspects the report examined was the constitution of the board of Bord na gCon. The Indecon report was critical of the skill set of the board. It identified a number of skills gaps in the made-up of the board, principal among those was the need for a depth of financial expertise with a requirement for more than one board member with financial qualifications and senior professional experience. While there was an implicit criticism that the lack of skills was a contributory factor in the decision to develop Limerick stadium without proper capital appraisal and cost-benefit analysis, there was also explicit criticism of the Limerick development and its governance.

Indecon stated: "Based on the analysis and documentation available to Indecon, it is hard to conclude anything other than the fact that there was inadequate appraisal of the Limerick capital investment." The report also identified the requirement for a senior legal professional, a marketing expert and a veterinary expert on the board. The latter requirement, that there would be a person with veterinary expertise on the board, addresses the welfare aspect. While not entirely in favour of singling out one specific skill to be set down in primary legislation, in view of the animal welfare and integrity role of the board, I made a Report Stage amendment in the Seanad setting down a requirement for veterinary expertise on the board.

To return to Deputy Cahill's amendment, based on past experience where the board was dominated by industry representatives, I believe it would be wholly inappropriate for 50% or more of ordinary members to be made up of industry representatives. This amendment totally disregards the recommendations of the Indecon report and I believe that it would be a totally retrograde step. The industry must change its approach to avoid any danger that the mistakes of the past would be repeated.

I also point out that this is a board that is responsible for regulating the industry and it will be responsible for drafting regulations to give effect to provisions set out in this Bill. It would, therefore, be totally inappropriate for 50% of the board to be made up of representatives of those to whom those regulations will apply. I accept, however, that there should be some industry representation on the board. That is why I made an amendment to allocate one or more places on the board to persons with detailed industry knowledge. This, I believe, will allow for some flexibility, while maintaining the balance in favour of a skilled board. I have today announced the appointment of two new members to the board, Mr. Gary Brown, with marketing expertise, and Mr. Wayne McCarthy, with a financial background and a long association with the greyhound sector. Both were selected through the Public Appointments Service, PAS, process. In addition, an existing member with significant financial and risk management expertise has been reappointed for a second term.

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