Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The previous CEO is gone and a new CEO is in place. I hope the rumour the previous CEO was paid to leave is not true. The new CEO has been brutal in coming to town. There are ways and means to deal with people but closing Harolds Cross stadium will not solve the problems. Between €6 million and €7 million will be raised. The problems will be solved through a betting levy online of 1%. A total of €1 million was raised last year and that amount will increase because the volume of online betting is going through the roof. The levy could raise €2 million next year. Why can that money not be used to pay off the IGB's debt while leaving the money the Government is putting in to run the industry to be used as prize money? The banks will have to sit down and deal with us because, at the end of the day, it will not be good public relations to close greyhound tracks in rural Ireland. They will have to be brought in and we can deal with them when the time comes. The pensions deficit is a huge problem for the IGB in Limerick. I believe the figure is €8 million. Nine or ten people employed in the Limerick office are earning €100,000 a year, which is ludicrous.

Sinn Féin opposed the funding allocated to the industry in this year's budget, yet the party has no problem fundraising at greyhound tracks such as Dundalk and Shelbourne Park.