Mr. Edward Gus Ryan:

Let me repeat that we want any dog that is found to have drugs to be suspended immediately. The dog should be allowed to race again after a certain time once Bord na gCon states he is clean. We do not want these dogs, be it a dog or a bitch going to stud. That is the only deterrent that will stop drugs being given to dogs. We do not want those dogs to be allowed to stand at stud.

We agree with the suggestion that all results are now to be published in the Sporting Pressa month after, which is a good thing. We do not believe that the control committee is independent. It is not mentioned in the legislation and it is Bord na gCon who pays the members. That could not be constituted as being independent. As far as I know they are not answerable to anyone. Bord na gCon gives no reason for its decisions but that is due to be changed, which is welcome.

We welcomed the announcement by Bord na gCon on the last occasion its representatives appeared before the committee that this would go ahead. We had been trying to secure the change for about three or four years. In England the British Horseracing Authority disqualified the Queen's horse instantaneously after a positive drugs test and it did not make any difference that it was the result of eating contaminated feed. We have no similar measure in place here. We should have. Regardless of how a substance gets into a dog, it might be the result of a mistake, but the dog should be disqualified. This is a black and white issue - once there is a trace of drugs, the dog should be disqualified.

The financial position of Bord na gCon is dire. We thought the debt was higher than €22 million and only for the intervention of the Government, it would have gone down the tubes a long time ago. Bord na gCon has a new chief executive, but the lady in question only carries out the instructions of the board. Board members should be responsible for answering questions because the chief executive is only the bearer of bad news. The first action of the newly appointed chief executive was to cut prize money by 20%. That is one of the reasons owners walked away. A prize of €200 was cut by 20%. As a result, a dog would have to win 13 graded races in a year to pay for itself. Some dogs would not even get to run 13 times, never mind win every one of its races.

I have given the facts for the reasons people are getting out of dog racing. It is a loss maker. It is not the number of breeders one needs to increase but the number of owners. An owner will buy dogs from a breeder if they are available. The breeder can breed his or her bitch and sell the pups to seven or eight people. It is the owner who is paying the piper and owners are walking away from the industry faster than anything.

Senator Denis Landy asked a number of questions. On catering facilities, while it is a great idea in theory, I have experience of taking over the bar at a racetrack. I found at the end of the year, having done all the sums, that we were worse off because we had to pay all of the staff. The surprising aspect of taking over the catering end of the industry is that it is fine when one is getting the profits, but if it goes belly up, one also has to pay. I wish those involved well. It may work, but I do not know, as there is no guaranteed income for anybody.

Bookmakers in Ireland will not take a bet on a race at any other meeting except in Shelbourne Park greyhound stadium where there is open racing. They do not trust the product we are producing. Again, I hope I am wrong, but I do not think streaming will be the saviour of the industry. We need to save the industry first and foremost.

Everybody has a view of what should be done at Harold's Cross. If the racetrack was sold in the morning, would it solve the problem? The answer is no for the simple reason that we have 16 to 17 tracks throughout the country, each one of which, with the exception of one and perhaps a second, is losing money. When the money realised from the sale of Harold's Cross is paid to the bank, one will still be in a bind.

A root and branch review has to be undertaken for all the other tracks to establish what has to be done and they will all have to be made to pay for themselves. If somebody had a shop in town and I told them that they are on O'Connell Street and only open for two days a week, what will they do for the other five days? We have a part-time business being run on a full-time basis. To spend €20 million on Limerick Greyhound Stadium and to have it open for two nights a week after spending that amount of money is a disgrace. I was in favour of it and I still think it can be turned around, believe it or not. I hope and pray that it can be turned around. I hope I have answered the questions.