Mr. Denis Egan:

We are delighted to be back here again today. We are pleased to try to address these issues. We do not accept that there is a lack of transparency. A number of points were made during the previous session with the IRTA and it is important that I clarify the record as there seems to be a misunderstanding to the effect that we are not accountable. We are accountable to six different organisations. Financially, we are accountable to HRI and there is full transparency. We prepare a budget on a line-by-line basis each year in October-November that goes to the HRI board. We have discussions with the HRI executives before it goes to the board. We agree a figure and it gets approved. We account on a monthly basis for everything we spend and, on a quarterly basis, there is an in-depth review with HRI of all the variances. As I stated last week, we cannot reallocate money that was given to be spent in one area on another area. That is the first area where we are accountable and transparent.

Second, the Comptroller and Auditor General carries out a full audit of the IHRB and goes through everything to ensure we comply with public procurement processes and our own internal policies. Third, we are accountable to all Oireachtas committees. That is enshrined in legislation in the Horse Racing Ireland Act 2016. We are accountable to the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and the Committee of Public Accounts. We are also accountable to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine and we regularly get parliamentary questions where we have to give information to the Minister on specific issues. We are fully transparent, and anybody can ask us any question regarding our activities and we would be quite happy to deal with it. We have nothing to hide. We are proud of what we do.