Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our witnesses. I have two questions. Horse racing is a great sport enjoyed by so many. I have no issue with the Government providing funding for horse racing, as it does in respect of greyhound racing and so on, as long as the funding is divided equally among all sectors of horse racing down to ground level. I am not big into horse racing. Farming and fishing are the main areas of interest in my part of the country. At the same time, I do attend local trotting races in the Durrus, Goleen and Drimoleague roads and in Bandon. These clubs have huge difficulty meeting insurance costs and so on. I would like to see the funding being provided by Government reaching the people on the ground as well as the people at the top.

As I said, I do not have massive skin in the game but I have a careful eye on what is going on. There are a lot of issues in this area that need to be properly explained for the sake of accountability in respect of taxpayers' money. I believe the IHRB should be dismantled and that an independent policing body needs to be established to police and regulate Irish horse racing. This body could be answerable to the HRI, the Government and this committee. I am sure at this stage it has become obvious that there are serious issues within the IHRB that are unacceptable and should not be allowed to continue.

As I said I have two questions, the first is to Mr. Kavanagh and the second to Dr. Hillyer. If any other witnesses wish to answer them they are welcome to do so. Is it acceptable that a self-elected gentlemen's club which receives Government funding of up to €9 million last year is not answerable to anybody?

My second question is about the steroids situation. Are there any current positive results not dealt with?