Paul Bradford (Independent)
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I am very supportive of both the themes and the tone of Deputy Lawlor's contribution and will not harrow the ground that he has ploughed.

I shall make one or two observations. Mr. Gleeson used a fascinating phrase when talking about point-to-point racing. He said that for all intents and purposes there would be a perception of no change. Normally, politicians talk about perception and people on the other side of the table talk about reality. I can see there may be no perception of any significant change, but change will come about as a result of this scheme. Why is the point-to-point sphere and sector in the scheme at all? The sector is working well and without it we would not have National Hunt industry. The sector is not broken so I am not sure why we are attempting to fix it. I ask Mr. Gleeson to comment further on the matter.

Integrity, services and the regulatory body have already been covered. The Racing Regulatory Body gave us a very powerful presentation a month or so ago at which its representatives asked very serious questions about ensuring its independence into the future. Can the Department be categorical, from the point of view of the integrity body, in stating that there will be no change? Can it confirm that the RRB will retain its full powers and flexibility, as heretofore?

If I was the Minister presiding over and assisting, by way of financial support, an industry as big as the Irish horse racing industry, then it would be very neat and tidy, from my perspective, to have all power and responsibility channelled into the HRI. The move would simply make my job much easier. However, the current balance between the HRI and the regulatory body works quite well and I would not like to see it rebalanced to any significant degree. Therefore, I am supportive of what the previous speaker said.

I ask Mr. Gleeson to reflect again on the whole issue of the point-to-point industry. Perception or not, there will be a change, and I am worried that it might have an impact on how the point-to-point sphere currently works in terms of volunteerism, local meets and the spirit of country enterprise, which is at the core of its success.