Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We will try to get that correspondence circulated quickly.

The next three items of correspondence are from Horse Racing Ireland, HRI, and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, IHRB. As they are related, I will address each of them before opening the floor to members.

The first of the three is correspondence item No. 396 B, from Mr. Brian Kavanagh, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland, and dated 24 February. Mr. Kavanagh wishes to clarify information provided during our meeting with HRI on 23 February 2021. He believes his exchange with me regarding the provision of funding for CCTV at racecourses around the country could have given the incorrect impression that €9.1 million was allocated in the 2018 integrity services budget for CCTV when, in fact, €9.1 million represented the total budget. The allocation for CCTV systems was €60,000. Mr. Kavanagh goes on to say that midway through the year, the IHRB requested that the €60,000 be reallocated to the development of an online trainers licensing system, with the issue of CCTV funding to be revisited in future budgets. At our meeting on 4 March we decided to clarify this publicly. As well as holding it over for consideration in public, we also decided to request the IHRB to provide an information note regarding CCTV systems, including why the proposed systems were not installed at more than one racecourse. I will come to that response shortly.

The second item of the three is correspondence item No. 423. It too is from Mr. Brian Kavanagh, chief executive, Horse Racing Ireland. It is dated 4 March and provides follow-up information relating to 14 questions arising from our meeting with HRI on 23 February. At our meeting on 11 March we decided to note and publish this item.

The third and final related item is correspondence item No. 439 B. It is from Mr. Denis Egan, chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, and is dated 11 March. It is the response I mentioned to our correspondence to IHRB regarding CCTV installations at racecourses. Mr. Egan states that €60,000 was originally allocated in the IHRB’s budget to provide CCTV at four racecourses but that the HRI took over the project in March 2018 and the funds were then transferred to its budget. However, the project did not commence in 2018 and the money went back to the IHRB. This money is doing the rounds. Mr. Egan states that money - a total of €80,000 this time - was again allocated for CCTV systems in the HRI budget of 2019.

However, the project had not started by July 2019, so the money again went back to the IHRB. The correspondence goes on to give some detail about the online licensing system that was prioritised over CCTV systems, including the IHRB's request that the €80,000 be allocated to online licensing and the board of HRI's agreement to that request. Despite being requested of the IHRB, though, the current position regarding the installation of CCTV systems is not addressed. I propose that we note and publish this item and reiterate the committee's request to the IHRB to clarify the current situation regarding the roll-out of CCTV systems at racecourses around the country and to include budget allocations and timelines for installation.

I am baffled. This project was given the go-ahead in 2018, but here we are heading into the middle of 2021 and it is still not off the blocks. We need some straight answers. I will open the discussion to the floor. Deputies Carthy, Hourigan, Catherine Murphy and Munster have indicated.