Mr. Phil Meaney:

I thank the Chairman. I will deal with some of Senator Ó Domhnaill’s points and then my colleague Dr. Colm Gaynor will deal with the drugs issue. Ms Geraldine Larkin will cover the issues surrounding Harold’s Cross along with some financial matters.

I am amazed at one thing but I do not know who I am amazed at in that I cannot understand where the perception of lack of communication comes from. Personally I attend the tracks at least four nights a week. I attend any meeting that I am asked to by any organisation, track or affiliation. I have turned down no requests. Somebody said recently that I did not attend a meeting with the federation. I was not invited. Whatever failings I have, and whether my position is tenable or otherwise, I am open to communication. In my own opening statement, in last year’s opening statement and in my interview when I became chairman of the IGB, I referred to working together. I want it on the record that I am fully supportive of owners, breeders and greyhound representatives. I have said this on every possible occasion, and I have said it to the CEO Ms Geraldine Larkin when she joined, that we will never have a true greyhound industry until we have all members working together.

I have found the problem is that I cannot get everybody to go in the same direction. I took a call on the way to this committee and the caller pointed out that some of the people here were not representing them. I am totally behind more communication and working together and in that regard Senator Landy makes a valid point about communication being a two-way street. I refuse to accept that the board, the senior executive or myself as chairman will not communicate with people and I would ask for instances of my failure to communicate. In saying this I am absolutely not being defensive.

I had a concern for the industry and an example of that concern is illustrated by a previous statement to this committee that Shelbourne Park is the only track upon which a bet can be placed in the bookmakers. If the Senator has money in his pocket he can put it on a race in Tralee. Last night he could have placed it on a race in Youghal. On Sunday he could have placed a bet for a race in Mullingar. I feared I would never get an opportunity to make that clear and that people would go out of here believing that one could only back on events at Shelbourne Park. That is hugely important. That is not a personal saving, it is a saving for the industry.

It was stated that all tracks are loss making. From the interaction I have with private tracks I understand that they are all profitable, albeit that they are making a small profit. Our own tracks have one Tote licence, so the tote is reported upon separately, away from the income of the stadium itself. When the Tote relevant to that particular track is put back to that track it means that almost all tracks are profitable.

That is my second concern. I could keep going but I will not do so. I just wish to make a few important points. The other point I wanted to make is that we have taken over food and beverages. Someone said the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It has gone extremely well. We had budgeted to break even, at best, but because of the capital expenditure, capex, we had in year 1 it will be profitable. I am quite happy that food and beverages are going very well.

I was involved in a track before I became chairman of Bord na gCon. I was a member of the Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association, GOBA, before I joined Bord na gCon. At present, fewer than half the tracks are affiliated. I appeal to GOBA, and will work with it, to get all the tracks working together. I will be part of that communications strategy.

The one thing that needs to be addressed is track distances. All tracks were privately owned prior to the setting up of the IGB in 1958. They were designed by different architects and constructed by different engineers and they all vary in length. However, the length is only a very small part of it. Other issues include the camber, drainage and underlying system of the track. If every track was exactly the same distance, there would still be huge variations. For example, Kilkenny is one of the longest tracks in the country but it is far from one of the slowest because so many things have to be taken into consideration. I will outline what we have done in terms of track ratings. First, we did it within the IGB and then we got it independently verified. We take into account the relative length of the track, the camber, drainage and all the things that make up the running surface of a track. Shelbourne Park is the datum and we work off that. Most of the tracks are slower and one track, namely, Deputy Buttimer’s track in Cork, is faster. The point I make is that up on the top of the card, of which we have a copy here, we also state the exact distance of a track. We are in no way trying to pull the wool over anybody’s eyes but the distance of the track is only part of the whole story. Do members understand the point I am making? It is that there are several other imponderables.

I do not want Senator Ó Domhnaill to think I am being defensive in any way. What I am trying to do is set the record straight. I have been involved in the industry for 40 years. The current board and executive have put in a huge effort to turn the industry around. I would be wrong to go out from here today without making that point. I would walk away from anything if I felt that a genuine effort was not being made to turn it around. A huge effort is being made, in particular in the past 12 months.

I will make another point and then I will hand over to my colleagues. For the first three years I was chairman, it was unbelievable in the sense that we were in the eye of a perfect storm. On one side, the industry and the disposable income in people’s pockets collapsed while, parallel to that, the support from the State was reduced by 30%. To me, the two of them created an almost perfect storm.

The first increase in money we got was at the beginning of 2015. I have some figures if I am allowed to give them to the Senator. Our attendance per meeting is up 8% this year. Our average gate income is up by 5.6%. The average concession from food and beverages is up 15%. The average from the Tote per person, per meeting is up 5.8%.

We did not have money to market the business. It was a case of trying to hold the business together until both the economy and the support for the industry picked up. That has now happened and we can already see the improvements. If the only problem facing the CEO, the executive and the board leaving here is one relating to communication, we will solve it quite quickly. Anyone who knows me will understand that I have no problem communicating with people.

I heard someone in the audience laugh when I said that. I make a commitment, for the record; I make myself available 24/7 for the greyhound industry and that will continue to happen. I will hand over to Ms Larkin who might like to speak on Harold's Cross.