Results 2,181-2,200 of 3,333 for speaker:James O'Connor

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: I welcome the representatives from the IHRB and HRI. I am interested in sport and I have met quite a few of the witnesses previously. As a regular race attender, I know 2020 was a challenging year with Covid. I would like to address Ms Eade first regarding attendances at the Curragh Racecourse and its profitability. Significant money was expended renovating the course. They have been...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: My primary concern is the crowds coming in, because essentially the sustainability of a racecourse is about getting-----

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: It is a shame given the funding that has been invested in that course. The overall cost of the project came in at more than the cost of the renovation of Longchamps. It was a significant investment and that needs to be looked at immediately and some solution found. I have a huge concern about that. Connectivity is an issue as well. Investment in public transport is key. The racecourse...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: I stand corrected. It is good to know.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: Some €80 million.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: A sum of €4 million is astronomical. I am not a structural engineer. Could the witnesses give an indication of what that depreciation relates to? Losing €4 million a year is worth asking about.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: I might just go over to Mr. O'Loughlin. I understand he came from the pharmaceutical industry to his current role. How much grant funding did the IHRB receive in 2020 from HRI to run the regulatory board? In addition, I would like a breakdown of full-time, part-time, casual and voluntary staff, such as stewards. It would be helpful to know that.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: Could Mr. O'Loughlin correspond with me about that following the meeting? If he could he check into that and refer back to me, I would appreciate it.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: On the sum of €8.3 million, is it in and around the same annually?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: What proportion of that funding goes to support the point-to-point industry?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: Only €600,000.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: Deputy Murphy touched on a serious issue. I am involved in point-to-point racing and disclosing that is important. The insurance costs in that are frightening. Different bodies within racing look after each aspect of it, but there is a collective need to seriously examine that problem. I am getting many calls from point-to-point committees, not only from within my constituency. There is...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: That would be helpful.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: I have a question for HRI on administration costs from 2019 into 2020. There is an increase from €7.83 million in 2019 to €8.423 million in 2020. I want to get a background on why that administration cost increase happened. I think it was related to labour costs but what are these labour costs? Will Ms Eade explain that?

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: I understand there was a substantial rise in HRI's legal costs in 2020, so I ask the witnesses to comment on this.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: Okay. I would like the attendance figures for the Curragh. I understand HRI probably has those, although the witnesses might not have them with them. Could I be furnished with them, please? I would be interested to see them from a transparency perspective and as an indication of where things stand and what it is going to take to make things work to get a good return for the organisations...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: Mr. O'Loughlin should not worry; I am well in tune with this. I will not lie, however, as I do not necessarily agree. This is an issue. There is a need to engage with the point-to-point committee in Kinsale on this matter, because it is a bone of contention. Perhaps with costs, going into that time of year, there may be an issue with getting stewards, etc. I do not know but several...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: Yes, but I have one other question.

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: There are huge changes happening in the regulation of gambling. There are divergent views, which is the nature of this issue, and it is very problematic. One change that has been touted, and on which there has been some discussion, is the removal of ATMs from racecourses. What impact does Ms Eade think that change would have? I think that it would be detrimental to the economic...

Public Accounts Committee: 2020 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 33 - Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Horse Racing Ireland: Financial Statements 2020 (22 Sep 2022)

James O'Connor: Has the matter been put to bed?