Mr. Frank Nyhan:

The number of race meetings remains consistent, but the number of dogs running is reducing, as is the number of races each night. While the number of people attending has been static over a three-year period, it is not a sufficient number to sustain the industry. The model requires a lot more to attend because the only way we can have more money for prize money - it is what funds the industry - is if more people attend and sponsor races. We need to increase those figures in order that we can feed money back in. The idea is that a person who owns one or two greyhounds should be able to run them without costing him money, but that is probably not the position. I expect that we should be able to introduce legislation over a period of five years.