Ms Geraldine Larkin:

This time last year I indicated to the committee that the Irish Greyhound Board had submitted a detailed timelined response to the Indecon report.

As the members of the committee are aware, the Indecon report reviewed the work of the board under four main headings - governance, finance, regulation and animal welfare. The 27 recommendations in it by and large followed those themes. Many of the recommendations have been implemented and considerable progress has been made on many others, although, as the Minister of State said, the full implementation of some will require primary legislation.

To give members a sense of the urgency the Irish Greyhound Board, IGB, attached to the implementation of the Indecon report, it is useful to quickly run through some of the flagship items which the board has addressed. Indecon referenced risk management within the board as a critical deficit, a point borne out by the Comptroller and Auditor General review of the Limerick project. The IGB has expanded its risk management committee to include its chief executive officer and all the senior executive team. This has ensured that all aspects of the IGB’s operations are reflected in risk management policy. There is greater board and audit committee involvement in the risk register, which is reviewed quarterly by the audit committee. Additionally, critical risks are assessed at every board meeting. Also, all staff have a means of reporting risks to an appropriate line manager and beyond. As committed to, the board has undergone governance training and a review of the effectiveness of the board is ongoing and will be completed by year end. On completion of this review, the existing code of governance will be further reviewed and amended, if necessary. In the area of audit management, there is enhanced reporting by the audit committee and greater visibility for the role of the audit committee within the organisation. The audit committee has a schedule of meetings and audit projects for the year with close-out meetings arranged with the Comptroller and Auditor General.

Indecon was critical of organisational structures within the IGB and the under-resourcing of internal capacity which is required for the IGB to function properly. An organisational review has been undertaken and, although not fully concluded, implementation of its findings have already commenced in respect of the provision of Tote services. A corporate unit is being put in place which will address all governance, freedom of information and other legislative compliance.

With reference to Indecon, the new public appointments process which is in place for all State and semi-State boards will also affect the composition of the IGB board.

It is important to state again that Indecon, while accepting the very real financial, business and other difficulties it faced, was of the view that the greyhound industry had a viable future if it followed the path laid out in the report for all its stakeholders. In a sense, Indecon offered an analysis which in many respects was ad idemwith the board’s perspective and it also offered a clear template as we move forward.

I said last year that if this industry was to survive and prosper, it would require tough decisions, ongoing assessment of the business model, the development of new income streams and an openness to new approaches right across the sector. It is no secret that the full implications of some of those requirements are not to everyone’s liking nor was it ever likely that this would be the case. However, the board has pressing commercial realities to deal with and cannot shy away from them. In the past year, new banking facilities have been completed, pension proposals are at an advanced stage and will shortly go to member communication, the asset disposal strategy has commenced, including the disposal of Harold’s Cross, calibration of racing has been undertaken, alternative sources of income realised at our stadia together with new Tote income streams are launching or at trial.

Key performance indicators have issued to all stadia, as previously outlined to this committee. Measurement of performance based on these criteria will form the basis for the allocation of resources to tracks in the future. Again, I am aware that this is a controversial area, as is asset disposal, but the board is determined to break down any notion that support in perpetuity to any track is a given, regardless of how that track is managed or performs.

The Chairman referred to new income streams, largely based on the streaming of racing to an international and digital audience. We are also trying to improve commercial income at our stadia. By way of example, the Jumping in the City programme undertaken in collaboration with Horse Sport Ireland held in Limerick, Cork and Dublin, was very successful.

Increased marketing spend has enabled investment in marketing to the tour operator and incentive markets. We have increased our presence at a number of UK, Irish and European trade fairs and all of this activity should yield dividends based on the booking cycles of these companies from next year onwards.

In addition to a complete overhaul of our branding, digital and advertising strategies, we have completely reformed our food and beverage services. We have taken over responsibility for its direction and operation.

Food offerings are central to marketing campaigns and the flexibility derived from the changes allows us to respond to market demands, create offers at different price points and ensure consistency of quality. The commercial value of this into the future will be very significant.

The IGB has been successful in attracting high profile sponsors and the implementation of the new digital and marketing strategy will help to further refine our offer to sponsors. The economic upturn will also be of help.

Regulation has always been fraught for greyhound industries worldwide. We have made significant progress in aligning with best international practice and the highest standards of compliance in racing regulation and integrity. The use of new statutory instruments to strengthen our regulatory controls announced just a few weeks ago is a clear demonstration of the path the board is going down. Those who breach the regulations now know that they will be faced with publication of adverse findings from test results on their greyhounds which, in turn, will be banned from racing. This is a major step forward.

The IGB supports mandatory penalties for a range of offences, but, as mentioned, this will require amending primary legislation. In the interim, the IGB has highlighted repeat offenders to the control committee and also sought and achieved increased penalties in the form of increased monetary fines and testing orders. We have reviewed and compared sanctions across national and international greyhound and horse racing jurisdictions and also invited stakeholders to submit their views. What will emerge, we hope, is a consensus which will allow us to develop a unified approach within the industry to cover all rule breaches and the sanctions to be imposed.

The IGB has established a scientific committee on doping and medication control to advise the board on the rapidly evolving worlds of doping and medication control in greyhounds. This committee will take into account the relevant recommendations made in the Morris report on anti-doping and medication control which is before the regulation committee of the board.

On animal welfare, incidents of greyhound cruelty are investigated by the IGB and sanctions recommended against all those found to be in breach of the Welfare of Greyhounds Act 2011. Members may be aware that last June the IGB secured its first successful prosecution in the District Court under the Act when fines of €2,500 and costs of €1,500 were imposed for a failure to comply with a welfare notice issued by the board. In addition, following investigations by the IGB, the Irish Coursing Club served fixed payment notices on a number of individuals for breaches of the Act. Collaboration between the IGB and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has resulted in the revocation of the licence of an EU transporter and his banning from the industry by the IGB. With the continued financial support of the IGB, greyhounds will continue to be rehomed through the Retired Greyhound Trust and animal rescue services. The IGB is committed to publishing data for the numbers of welfare inspections and the penalties imposed on the welfare section within the resource centre on the IGB website and also in the sporting press on a regular basis.

I hope this whistlestop tour through the Indecon report indicates the high level of activity engaged in the board in regard to the reforms which anyone with a knowledge of the greyhound industry realises must be put in place. The past few years have been very difficult for all those involved in the industry. My ambition is to drive forward an industry model that is fit for purpose, sustainable and capable of supporting owners, trainers and all stakeholders into the future.