Results 2,621-2,640 of 4,350 for speaker:Bobby Aylward

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I want to move on.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: My time is short.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: What came out of the fora? What response did the fora draw out? Did anything come of them?

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I will come to that. I could not let it go without saying something about Harold's Cross. It is closed and locked up at the moment. A dispute has arisen. Bord na gCon is losing €30,000 per week according to the documents I have before me. That is a great deal of money. Has any progress been made on that? In hindsight, would it have been better to do it differently? The sale to...

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: Could the board have sold it on to AIB while keeping it going until the sale went through? In that way the board would have had money flowing in from it. That would have kept people happier rather than the way it was handled.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: What kind of money was Harold's Cross turning over before it was closed? It was profitable anyway, was it not?

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: The profit was €300,000.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: Has there been any movement since the Bord na gCon representatives were here last on peace talks?

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: There has been movement. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I want to talk about the Tote returns. A total of €50 million was put in by 2015 and that went down to €20 million in the Tote. The figure for Horse Racing Ireland went from €50 million up to €80 million in the same time with the recession and everything included. Can the deputation explain why? The Tote is a major money spinner for the Irish Greyhound Board....

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: The figures for Horse Racing Ireland have come back up.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I wish to ask Mr. Gleeson a question. What way is the money divided? It seems 80% of the fund goes to Horse Racing Ireland and 20% goes to the Irish Greyhound Board. Can Mr. Gleeson explain why it is 80:20 and why it is not more evenly divided, perhaps 40:60 or 50:50? Why is it 20:80? I want to know the reason and how the Department has come at that.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: It has never been looked at or changed since. The split was 20:80 always. Is that correct?

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: Did the Irish Greyhound Board ever look for an increase, percentage wise, from that fund?

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: Does Bord na gCon accept that?

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: In 2015 the Irish Greyhound Board received €13.6 million from this fund, an increase of €2.85 million from 2014. However, the board reduced the prize money by €800,000 instead of increasing it. Why was that? It got more money but the witnesses will only come back and tell me the same story again, that it was caused by debt servicing. However, the board was hitting the...

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: It was reduced by €800,000 according to the figures I have.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: That is what I have.

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: I have figures that in 2014 the board received €10.8 million funding, of which it paid €5.3 million in prize money, which is 49% of the money going to prize money. In 2015 it received €13.6 million funding and paid €4.5 million in prize money, which is 33% of the funding going to prize money. There is a big reduction even though the IGB got more money. There...

Public Accounts Committee: Bord na gCon: Financial Statements 2015 (Resumed) (18 May 2017)

Bobby Aylward: The problem is the bank debt had to be serviced, and the people depending on the industry had to suffer over it. It came off of their backs.