Mr. Arthur Cooper:

Le Trot has been looking after us for the last few years but, like anyone, it wants to know what the return will be. It questions us when we keep telling it that the Government is very supportive because it is not seeing anything in return for its support. It wants us to succeed. We will touch on the breeding in a moment but the French have put a lot of money in and are asking when they will get a return.

On the meeting with PMU, we have another meeting coming up in June of this year. We are getting five races. We are projecting more than €1 million in turnover for that particular meeting. We did not get any more meetings this year. Looking at the history of how the French bodies have normally operated, we would have expected a couple of extra meetings this year. We did not get any this year. I suspect one of the reasons for that is that, having supported us this far, they are starting to question how much more support they must give before they get a return. I anticipate that if this meeting goes well and if we progress in the next 12 months, we will get a couple more meetings next year. Within the next five years we are aiming to have between 20 and 25 meetings a year. These would include seven or eight races. We would have turnover of between €2 million and €3 million per race meeting from France on those 25 meetings. All of a sudden we would be getting revenue of €3 million. It is not that far away. We can achieve revenue of over €3 million in commissions from France if the structures are in place and if France sees that we are prepared to assist it, because it has assisted us. The matching of France's support is very important. Other nations have also been very supportive. Australia has supported us and was very generous in its comments in the Indecon report on what we have achieved so far.

Recommendations 4 and 5 were also mentioned. They are two separate recommendations and, unfortunately, I think they have been melded together in previous conversations. As Senator Mac Lochlainn rightly points out, the issues of seed funding and State funding are totally different. The IHRA agrees with the Indecon report in that State funding can only come once we have prepared the strategic plan. We accept that in the first instance but, as Indecon has stated, we should be entitled to some form of seed funding. It now comes down to what we are doing to justify that seed funding. We are in the process of putting that document together. It is not far away from completion. I will be distributing a copy to everybody before it goes out. The five or six points I have mentioned will be spelt out within it. Last year we were talking about €770,000. We are waiting for some final tenders to come back. I cannot actually give a final figure but it will not come in at €770,000. However, we anticipate - and we will justify this - that we will probably be looking for between €400,000 and €500,000 in seed funding to get us over the line and to deliver between now and August. A lot of time and effort will be spent on the strategic plan this year. We understand it is the most important thing.

While we would love to have Portmarnock developed tomorrow if we could, we accept the process that needs to take place. We recognise that it will not happen this year. First we must have the strategic plan in place which, as I have said, will take a number of months to conclude. That strategic plan will outline the proper development, what we want from a track and stabling facility, and the justification as to why it will cost a given sum of money. That is what the full amount will be. In the short term I anticipate that the seed funding will be between €400,000 and €500,000. After that, we expect it will take a couple of million euro to develop the track and stabling.

That then leads on to the training or integration programme. If we go ahead and use the €50,000 this year, it will end up like the situation two years ago. Some of the graduates from that time are drivers now and some have a driver's licence. All bar two graduates of that initial programme from two years ago came to a little lunch we held for them to celebrate up at Dundalk. They said they really got a lot out of the programme and would like to race a horse but they had nowhere to stable or train. Were the track to be developed I would be able to put it out internationally immediately, because there are a number of markets out there that would take us tomorrow.

After meeting several years ago, our interlocutors in Australia have said that if we held meetings there, and raced at certain times, they would put us on straight away. There are markets that will take us. It is not just a matter of having an international track. We envision merging the two together with the integration programme. It can constitute the use of State funding for two very important areas.

We want to get this programme up and running. We want to do it around the country. However, we do not want to waste public money if there is no follow-up. As Indecon point out, there should be a follow-up programme. If that is not in place, why go ahead and do it? Let us get everything done correctly. In the strategic plan we will devote a full section to the integration programme, the way believe it should operate and how it can benefit the country going forward. We need to keep State funding and seed funding very separate. We met with representatives of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine just prior to the publication of the Indecon report. Since then, we have been in regular communication with them via email. With Christmas and new year over, we will be meeting the Department tomorrow. We will discuss what seed capital will be required and explain that we have now completed the report's first recommendation. We are completing the second recommendation, but that will be an ongoing process. We will discuss training, integration and our reasons for thinking that the sum of €50,000 should not be spent at this point. We will also explain how the strategic plan should come together and will be required of the Department