Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 1 June 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Horse Racing in Ireland and the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board's Anti-doping Programme: Discussion

Mr. John Osborne:

I would defend exactly what Ms Guy said. Irish racing has never had such a high reputation globally, but with that comes the expectation of ever-increasing standards. I would be disappointed if we came in here at any time and said "Job done" and that we were finished, because this is ever-evolving. We are dealing with a subject that involves dealing with people who are trying to cheat the system or whatever. We must be ever-vigilant about that. We will always be trying to get better and never be standing still.

On the specific recommendations, I stand over what I said earlier. Progress has been made on all fronts although some of it is slower than we would have liked, for reasons that are perfectly explainable but, to a certain extent, outside our control. However, we are doing things in the right way rather than at a specific pace because we want to get the right outcome regarding many of these recommendations. We are doing very well on the integrity and reputation front, which is so valuable to the Irish industry.

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