Mr. Brian Kavanagh:

I thank the Chairman. As for Deputy Ó Cuív's question on the veterinary side of things, which probably is the principal issue, one function that the Legislature has given to Horse Racing Ireland is to protect the health and welfare status of the Irish thoroughbred horse. This is a responsibility that the board of Horse Racing Ireland, and indeed the thoroughbred industry, take seriously. They run the Irish Equine Centre in Johnstown, County Kildare, which is a world-leading centre charged with protecting the health of thoroughbreds, disease surveillance and such issues. The Irish Equine Centre is funded through a combination of funding from Horse Racing Ireland, contributions from thoroughbred breeders through the foal levy and the commercial activities of the centre itself. This is not done simply for the good of the industry but because we have seen the effect of disease and health issues and the devastating effect it can have on industries elsewhere. This could be seen in Ireland when the entire agricultural sector was closed down for a time due to foot and mouth disease. In an example specific to our sector, this could be seen in Australia when the New South Wales thoroughbred industry was shut down for three months approximately ten years ago because of the arrival of some infectious disease into Australia. This had a devastating effect on the trade and the business of that sector. As I stated, it is for this reason, allied to the responsibility given in legislation, that the board of Horse Racing Ireland would act cautiously in such an issue.

I can assure the Deputy it is not a question of snobbishness; far from it. I have worked with this board since all its members were appointed and there is no question of snobbishness. The status of the thoroughbred industry in Ireland is the product of hard work by many people, including, as I noted in my contribution, the positive approach that politicians and the Legislature take to the industry in Ireland, which is the envy of other countries globally. My counterparts in other countries would give their eye teeth to have the level of engagement between the horse industry and their politicians that we enjoy with Members. Consequently, the issue of disease control, or biosecurity, is taken extremely seriously by our industry for good reason - the protection of trade and so on.

We have had a number of meetings with the harness racing representatives, particularly to discuss the trial meeting that was taking place in September. We agreed that there would be a two-phase approach to the veterinary matters. First, we would have an assessment of veterinary controls at the race meetings. That took place at the meeting of 29 September. The report is being produced and, anecdotally, there is no issue there. As one would have expected, it was run to veterinary standards similar to those that operate at race meetings. The second element of that exercise is a series of inspections and visits to harness racing establishments off-track to assess the welfare and veterinary standards within those premises. That will take place in January. That is a prudent and sensible approach to what could be a devastating issue for our sector. This is an issue which the board of Horse Racing Ireland takes seriously and it is working through that process. As I stated in the presentation, we will be happy when the process is concluded to share it with the harness racing authorities and with this committee, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and whoever it may be of interest to. However, the issue of biosecurity and disease control is a matter of the utmost importance to the thoroughbred sector, and that is the approach which the sector has taken.

With regard to the other issues, they all were set out in my letter of 22 July. These are complex issues. On the impact on the race track, for example, harness racing wants an all-weather fast-track while and horse racing wants an all-weather slow-track. Therefore, there is a conflict over the type of race track and the way the race track is presented. We have had a situation with regard to Dundalk in the past year where the entire surface of the track has had to be flipped because there were some complaints from the riders and trainers about the quality of the surface. They are facing up to the fact that the track will have to be replaced in its entirety at some stage within the next four or five years. There are issues of concern there.

A number of the activities that take place on an authorised race track are specifically defined in legislation, be that in regard to betting services, allocation of bookmakers' pitches at race tracks, negotiation of media rights, allocation of fixtures and regulation of the sport. Once a race meeting takes place on an authorised racecourse, it falls under the jurisdiction of that legislation. That complicates matters significantly and from our point of view is another reason to be cautious about sharing facilities between horse race meetings and harness race meetings. The committee may be familiar with the fact that there is a long-running legal dispute in the High Court between the bookmakers and Dundalk race course over the allocation of pitches at Dundalk, which is unresolved and still subject to appeal, and running harness race meetings, which have a different method of allocating bookmakers' pitches. This creates an extra complication in that area.

In that regard, the other area to consider is the overseas examples. Generally, while in some countries, particularly France, which as been quoted, there is a lot of sharing of facilities, that is not the case in a number of other jurisdictions. Where harness racing and thoroughbred racing take place at the same venue on different dates, they are almost always run on different tracks. The harness racing track is a separate track inside the race track. That is for the simple reason that most race courses, particularly those in Britain and Ireland, are too big for harness racing. Most tracks here are approximately a mile and a quarter in a circuit whereas we are told by the harness racing authorities that they require a track of a shorter distance. In France, no harness racing takes place on any of the seven all-weather race tracks. In the United Kingdom, three fixtures a year are run on race tracks - two in Musselburgh and one at Wolverhampton. In Scandinavia, only 4% of the trotting races take place on tracks that also stage horse racing. In Germany, it is 22 out of 181 fixtures, or 12%. In Italy, it is 81 out of 505 fixtures. The two are not as compatible as one may think. I accept there is some sharing of facilities, but not on a wholesale basis. As I said, the board has taken the view that the primary issue to be satisfied is that of veterinary health welfare for which it holds a responsibility under legislation. There are a number of other complicating factors which require careful consideration.

In response to Deputy Harrington's question, in my letter of 22 July on behalf of the board, I stated clearly that, "The Board are mindful of the ambitions of the Irish Harness Racing Association to develop their sport"-----