Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 24 November 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2016: Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Photo of Jackie CahillJackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

No apologies have been received. Members now have the option to be physically present in the committee room or they may join the meeting via Microsoft Teams, with the proviso that for meetings in public session, they must be in the Leinster House complex. Members may not participate in the meeting from outside of the parliamentary precincts. If joining via Microsoft Teams, please mute microphones when not making a contribution and please use the raise hand function to indicate. Please note that messages sent to the chat are visible to all participants online. Speaking slots will be prioritised for members of the committee.

Members and all attendees are asked to exercise personal responsibility in protecting yourselves and others from the risk of contracting Covid-19. You are strongly advised to practise good hand hygiene. I urge you not to move any chair from its current position. You should always maintain appropriate levels of social distancing during and after the meeting. Masks, preferably of a medical grade, should be worn at all times during the meeting, except when speaking. I ask for full co-operation on these issues.

Today's meeting with the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Charlie McConalogue, will deal with two items. The first item is to consider the motion referred to the joint committee by Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann in relation to the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations fund 2021. When this item is concluded, we will discuss Ireland's nitrates action programme with the Minister.

We now begin session one on Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2021. I welcome the Minister, Deputy McConalogue, and the officials accompanying him from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Dr. Kevin Smyth, assistant secretary general, and Ms Caroline Ball, principal officer. You are all welcome to the meeting. The Minister will be given ten minutes to make his opening statement before we go into a question and answer session.

Before we begin, I must read an important notice on parliamentary privilege. Witnesses are protected by absolute privilege in respect of the evidence they are to give to the committee. However, if you are directed by the committee to cease giving evidence on a particular matter and you continue to do so, you are entitled thereafter only to qualified privilege in respect of your evidence. You are directed that only evidence connected to the subject matter in these proceedings is to be given. You are asked to respect the parliamentary practice to the effect that, where possible, you should not criticise or make charges against any person, persons or entity by name or in such a way as to make him, her or it identifiable.

I invite the Minister to make his opening statement.

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