Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Okay. What happened in the Zilpaterol case? This is a case that we have discussed at previous meetings. It relates to testing done in France and the withdrawal of certain horses from races by Ballydoyle. There was a report that there was a contaminant in material produced by Gain Equine Nutrition. We were told by the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board that it was satisfied that it could not have detected this because the French laboratory had a more refined way of testing. I did not get a chance to ask a further question I wanted to ask. I understand that time was limited. I wanted to ask whether that ended the IHRB's interest in the subject. I am not at all clear whether an investigation was done to establish that whatever contaminant was in the feed was not there for a nefarious reason.

I do not know whether it was a contaminant that got into particular horse feed or whether it got into horse feed used by certain stables or yards. Did the Department chase that down and did it act in time to take samples? What did it do in that case involving Zilpaterol and what did it find?