Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That would be welcome. I could not find those 2021 statistics but that may have been my fault. As our guests know, the committee made certain substantial recommendations. I am concerned at the slow progress. I will leave it at that.

We are here because we believe in the industry and are supportive of it. I can declare that I have a reasonably keen interest in horse racing. I attend races at Leopardstown, the Curragh, Punchestown and a number of other places. I have an interest in the industry, as do most others on the committee. It is an important industry and, as Deputy Carthy said, everyone wants to see it succeed.

We are not here to point the finger at anyone but it would be remiss of us if we did not raise the concerns that we received from the public and the bigger industry in regard to it. That is an important point to make.

In our recommendation No. 8, we state that as Ireland has a large horse racing industry, the committee recommends that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine considers developing laboratory capacity in Ireland to build a national expertise in testing as well as employment opportunities in this field. That was a recurring theme. We see that the work of the IHRB was contracted out to an independent laboratory, LGC. I understand from the report that it was not audited by Dr. Suann. He did not audit the work of the IHRB's contracted independent laboratory, LGC. Is that correct? If so, why?