Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State. Many of the issues to which I wish to refer have already been raised. Even the most cursory reading of the correspondence circulated to Members - I am not sure if it was circulated to those on all sides - gives rise to very serious questions regarding the status and ongoing governance of the various boards with responsibility in this area. One of the reasons we received this correspondence is that the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, have refused to engage with the greyhound owners. A letter sent by the Department states that the Minister is satisfied that the board continues to discharge its statutory and other functions and obligations on an ongoing basis and that, for its part, the Department continues to discharge all its monitoring responsibilities with regard to Bord na gCon in accordance with legislation and Government policy in respect of commercial State bodies. In a letter sent to the Minister, Deputy Coveney, one of those involved in this affair indicated that, unfortunately, his experience was contrary to the views of the Minister of State and that regrettably he had left the board. I do not know if I can name the individual concerned but I am sure the Minister of State is aware of his identity.

The individual to whom I refer some very serious allegations, as did another involved in the industry in correspondence sent to the Minister of State in July last year. The latter referred to political influence on the industry ensuring that people are not appointed on merit, that poor and suspect decisions have been made and that there must be accountability for the position in which the industry now finds itself. I agree with that person's assertion to the effect that there are many positives relating to the Irish greyhound industry and that it has a core of highly skilled suppliers of greyhound stock who deserve their industry to be run fairly and its continuing viability to be ensured. The individual in question further stated that Irish greyhound stock is renowned across the globe and that Ireland is accepted as the cradle of the best gene pools in the world. He alleged that this reputation is at risk with the manner in which breeding and racing are regulated at present and proceeded to state that the problems of the greyhound industry are not new, that they are complex and that we are running out of time in the context of saving it from collapse. He observed:

The culture of the Industry needs to be changed and changed immediately. I would ask that you carry out an in-depth review of the Industry by an external expert group ... The Industry can not be changed from within ... The political nature of the Industry must be removed. Integrity must be restored as at present it is simply a buzz word. The Industry at present is a charade due to failures to implement and failures to identify the requirements for a fair and viable Industry. The corporate governance and compliance duties ... have also failed. The morale of the staff and the confidence of the Industry stakeholders have been lost.

These are, as already stated, these are extremely serious allegations, particularly in the context of what is a prime industry. I am sure the Minister of State will be able to respond to them. As stated at the outset, he does not appear to have been engaging with those to whom I refer or the greyhound industry itself. He will have an opportunity to either refute these allegations or clarify the position relating to them when he replies.

In the context of the investigation of so-called ringers running at Dundalk stadium, a matter to which my colleague referred, another item of correspondence states "The Internal Auditor has since been paid off and has left the IGB". The writer of this letter asks, "How can a semi-state be allowed to spend tax payers money to remove a person doing their job correctly while continuing to employ the people that are in breach of rules[?]". Again, these are serious allegations. The individual who wrote this letter also states "the treatment of the Internal Auditor and the Head of Compliance should be investigated". There is much more involved but I will only make one final point. It relates to the fact, as the correspondent in question indicates, that:

The 1958 Greyhound Industry Act state that Minutes must be kept of all meetings of the Board. The recording of Board meetings is a standard governance issue. The minutes of the January 2013 Board meeting omitted reference to important information. The February 2013 minutes acknowledge this fact. The May 2nd 2013 Board meeting minutes have been changed to remove large sections of the record in relation to the Dundalk inquiry and the Board members reaction to a letter I sent to the Company Solicitors.

It does not give me any great pleasure to place these allegations and charges on the record.

If those involved, including a former board member, have taken the time and effort to write extensive letters of several pages both to the Minister and Minister of State the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine then at the very least it raises questions that need to be answered.