Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Dollard and his team. As Mr. Dollard stated we are here to discuss the financial accounts and the financial position of Bord na gCon, in particular the viability of the financial future of Bord na gCon.

In the board members' report, the section on principal commercial activity sets out the main funding for Bord na gCon and how it is sourced from five different categories: admission fees; bar and restaurant sales; the tote; levy on the bookies; and Exchequer funding. I find it strange that €16.8 million from the Exchequer is mentioned last, given that it dwarfs most of the other sources of funding. Bord na gCon gets Exchequer funding of €16.8 million, which breaks down to €323,000 per week, or €46,000 a day. The funding has increased by €2 million since 2016, or an additional €39,000 a week. I know that the funding of the dogs sticks in the craw of many people, given the poor unfortunates in my constituency who have been told there is no money for home help for their loved ones, or who have been told by the Minister of State, Deputy Finian McGrath that there is no money for the respite centre in Athboy. This set of accounts for the Irish Greyhound Board records an increase of €2 million for greyhounds and the funding from the State is only referenced last in the annual report.

Let us look at the income and expenditure because it is quite evident that without the Exchequer funding of €16.8 million, greyhound racing operations would not be viable. To answer Deputy Farrell's question, they would be goosed. It begs the larger question of such massive State subvention in the first place.

I will now concentrate on the income of IGB. I was a sports journalist for 15 years. For most sporting organisations, the people coming through the turnstiles are the segment that generate the largest part of the income and they are a good barometer of public sentiment for the organisation. Let us look at the attendance figures, the ordinary Irish people coming through the 17 tracks in various parts of the country. In 2016, some 636,914 people came through the turnstiles; in 2017, and I acknowledge there were difficulties that year, the figure dropped to 514,500 people; and last year, 2018, it dropped to 506,000, even though the number of race meetings actually held increased from the number held in 2017. The number of people coming through the turnstiles has dropped by 130,000 in the past three years. That is a substantial drop in attendance.

Mr. Dollard is the new chief executive and he is trying to reform the organisation. I am sure he will admit that the drop in attendance is quite substantial. Average attendance at the track would be 319 people per meeting in 2018. There would be more people at a cricket match in Malahide and the Irish Cricket Union does not get the colour of €16.8 million. Contrast those 319 people with the 321 people in my constituency waiting on home help in County Meath. It is galling. The industry has some neck to be in receipt of €16.8 million in State support with such low public support. If the industry continues to haemorrhage public support, which is evident from the drop of 130,000 people attending the tracks in three years, does there need to be a reappraisal?

I have three questions. First, does there need to be a reappraisal of the level of Government support, because quite simply the Exchequer cannot be expected to prop up a failing industry if income is falling on one side? Second, has Bord na gCon approached the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine with a request for increased State support, either by way of correspondence, formal or informal meetings with the Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle? Given the trends in income that we have seen will there be requests for further support as well? Third, Mr. Dollard alluded to the fact that Shelbourne Park was performing strongly in the first half of the year before the RTÉ expose but how have the other tracks performed in that same six months period? In terms of the 20% drop on average, across attendance numbers, was the spike higher in some tracks than others?