Mr. Darragh O'Loughlin:

The review of our equine anti-doping programme by Dr. Craig Suann, who is acknowledged as an expert, was carried out on the recommendation of this committee. He reported back after his review that we at least match international best practice. This is always a good starting point. Dr. Suann made 18 recommendations in total. The majority of these we have implemented. Some of them are implemented on an ongoing basis to change a practice or an approach. We have implemented these. Some of the high-priority ones require additional funding because they require additional testing. There is a cost associated with every sample that gets sent to the laboratory for analysis. There is a manpower cost associated with taking the samples. We have outlined the sample numbers and the sample taking we think is necessary to fully meet the recommendation. We have costed it and presented them to HRI and the Department. We can only operate within the budget that we have. We are working with HRI. If additional resources become available we will be able to implement some, or part at least, of those recommendations that are outstanding. As more resources become available to us through the budgeting process, we will be able to fund the remaining outstanding recommendations. We have to operate within the budget we are given.