Dr. David McGrath:

We have not made any recommendations. In terms of the board being compromised, what we are saying is that it is important that the board lead from the top in terms of integrity. In that regard, the Greyhound Act 1957 sets out rules that the board must follow but it has not been doing that in a number of situations, be that in regard to the length of time people have served on the board or the number of sessions people have served on the board and so on. If the board itself is not implementing the Greyhound Act 1957 then it is difficult for it to police that Act. Another big issue in terms of that Act is separation of the operation side of the industry from the integrity side. In terms of horse racing, there are two separate organisations in the form of Horse Racing Ireland and The Turf Club. There is a glaring anomaly in one of the heads of the Bill in relation to the definition of "club". Head 15 deals with investigations by Greyhound Racing Ireland. It provides that where Greyhound Racing Ireland considers that there are matters of concern to the club it may notify such matters to the club. That, to me, appears to be a provision lifted from measures related to Horse Racing Ireland or The Turf Club. It is similar to the dual control system in the UK. I do not understand how it came to be included in this Bill because as far as I am aware there is no club in this area.