Results 4,221-4,240 of 7,789 for speaker:Michael Fitzmaurice

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (8 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Wishing to do something and doing something are two different things.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (8 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The witnesses have basically stated that Ireland is a world leader in drug sampling. Some 12% of runners were tested in 2019, compared with 15.5% in Britain, 17.5% in France and 31.7% in Japan. Do our guests stand over that claim in the context of those figures for 2019 in other countries?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (8 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: As regards our nearest neighbours, the rate is 15.5% in the UK.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (8 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The figures I have were provided by Mark Boylan of the Racing Post. That is what I have read. Does the IHRB intend to increase the rate of testing?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (8 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I have one final question. I want to let in Deputy Flaherty. I noticed that a problem arose last year relating to smaller breeders. The Department was involved, as were authorised agents. When a foal is born, one is supposed to get a book but, mysteriously, these books were heading towards the owner of the stud. Why was that the case?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (8 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The IHRB is not involved in that, is it?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I thank the Chairman. I disagree with one thing Dr. Hillyer said. When it came to testing cattle, if there was anything untoward anywhere, the Department for Agriculture, Food and the Marine was able to work on livestock right around the country. I would not buy into Covid-19 for an excuse. International research from experts such as Professor Richard Sams in America suggests that two...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: The IHRB is doing both anyway. I must cut across Dr. Hillyer because I want to get through the questions as quickly as I can.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Is Dr. Hillyer aware that there is talk about the administration of an injection that can be given to horses, which basically gives adrenaline before races and could be gone out of them at the end of a race? Is Dr. Hillyer aware of that or has she looked at it? Is that correct?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Does the IHRB contribute to international studies on all this?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: In 2017, the IHRB announced the implementation of a race day cobalt threshold in plasma and urine. Did the IHRB get involved in that drug testing, for instance, by putting money towards it or putting research together for it along with other countries?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay. Can Dr. Hillyer paint this picture for me? I was thinking about what she said at the previous session about going out to, for instance, some stud farm where there are horses. Before she goes, does she have a system that will tell her every one of the horses that is on that farm?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I asked a very specific question. Can Dr. Hillyer, before she goes out to a stud farm, say that she has the registrations for 15 horses or 12 horses or that she knows every one of them? It is a "Yes" or "No" answer.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: We have a system in place. I asked the question of whether horses could be moved. When Dr. Hillyer has gone out to a stud farm, I am aware from information received that both the Department and Dr. Hillyer or the authorised officers have been held up before they have got into certain places. I am saying to Dr. Hillyer now that she has admitted there is no system to know. If, for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I am sorry for talking over Dr. Hillyer but funnily enough, since last week, we have had whistleblowers, who stated very clearly that the IHRB has been held at yards and the Department has also been held by security at yards.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: I can come in on that. The animal identification and movement, AIM, system is up and running at the moment for livestock. There is no reason why the IHRB should have been huffing and puffing over the past number of years about bringing in that system because the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, in fairness to it, has one of the best systems in Europe for livestock. There is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Dr. Hillyer stated at the previous meeting that the IHRB follows up any leads regarding alleged wrongdoing in the industry. We all got emails during the week. In fairness, it was before Dr. Hillyer's time, in 2007 a whistleblower went as far as stating the cupboard where the alleged drugs were stored. In 2018 and 2019, when she was there, the whistleblower stated that the same thing...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: It would help if that whistleblower came forward and named the person that it was sent to. Dr. Hillyer said that no matter who gets it in the group that he or she must make sure it is given to her. If it was sent to some other person in the group, would there be serious consequences as a result?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: If it ends up on somebody else's desk, is the person supposed to send it to Dr. Hillyer?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed) (13 Jul 2021)

Michael Fitzmaurice: Okay, that is grand. I do not know which of the witnesses deals with passports. I have a situation at the moment where one horse has three registrations and cannot be killed because of the system. Is the passport registered with the animal identification and movement, AIM, system in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine or with Horse Sport Ireland, HSI? There are three...