Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I found the speech by the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, of comfort but none is in the mood for such comfort because we all know the allegations against Bord na gCon are very serious. Matters such as the Limerick scandal and the misuse of taxpayer's money was consider by the Committee of Public Accounts. One of the reason I wish to address this matter is that Dr. Patrick Wall, who is chairman of Horse Sport Ireland - this has no place in today's debate - is getting €3 million from the taxpayer, when a vast number of children and adults are competing at European level.

Bord na gCon gets funding of €10.8 million. We all want to support the greyhound racing industry but not the way it is run at present. I want the Minister to get tough and adopt a belt and braces approach to Bord na gCon. Senator Ó Domhnaill is correct that the board and executive committee needs to be cleansed. The Minister of State knows that it does not sound good, and if it was our company, we would have our sleeves rolled up.

I have a small company with a turnover of €20 million and the accounts have many intricacies and are not that easy to do yet we signed off on our accounts for 2013 yesterday, the 18 February, however Bord na gCon has not been signed off on its 2012 accounts. How can we, a private sector company, do it so quickly when it take Bord na gCon an extra year to sign off on its accounts?