Anthony Lawlor (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Andrew Doyle and the comprehensive Bill he has provided to us to discuss today. I worked on the Horse Racing Ireland Act, which also went through a long process. Is there much of a repeal of the Greyhound Industry Act 1958, which is the basic Act that will be taken over by this new Bill? One key point, as noted by Senator Coffey, is the change of board membership from seven to nine members. In fairness, in 1958 they actually clearly stated what the chairman could or could not be. The 1958 Act clearly states: "The chairman of the Board shall not be beneficially interested in the ownership, control or operation of greyhound race tracks, the holding or conduct of public sales of greyhounds or the training of greyhounds for reward or in bookmaking." We do not see any such provision in this Bill about what the chairman is or is not to do. It does not give any detail; it is just very broad as to what the Minister would do.

With regard to the nine board members, when we worked on the Horse Racing Ireland Act, we included in the legislation the provision for all the various sectors within the horse racing industry who could be on the board of Horse Racing Ireland. This Bill provides that it is up to the Minister to decide who is to be in the legislation. In his own words, could the Minister of State tell the House who he would like to see on the greyhound board? Perhaps the Minister of State could give us an indication. If so, would the Minister of State consider including in the legislation the provision for certain sectors that are heavily involved in the greyhound industry to be included on the board, for example, the Irish greyhound owners and breeders associations? These are the organisations that are contributing because it is the owners who pay the fees to participate in the races. Perhaps the Minister of State will outline who the Minister might consider to be put on the board, and maybe put specifics into the legislation, as we did with the Horse Racing Ireland Act whereby owners, trainers and people were included in order that they could then be identified clearly.

I have already alluded to the chairman and what he or she can and cannot do, and that it is quite ambiguous in the Bill. On the finance side, the Greyhound Industry Act 1958 said that the board shall not borrow more than "twenty-five thousand pounds" without the "concurrence" of the Minister. This Bill does not have that provision. The Bill should give some leeway to the board to borrow money without running cap in hand to the Minister. The Bill could include some figure - be it € 2 million or €5 million or whatever - in order that the board does not have to keep coming into the Department to make sure they are okay with spending. I am aware there were issues on the overspend, especially on the track in Limerick, which caused financial problems for the board.

One of my pet hates is the totalisator - the tote - but it is actually run well in the Irish Greyhound Board. Perhaps the Minister of State could look at this again and I could speak with him about it when the Bill comes back on the next Stage.The word I am hearing on the street is that there are problems associated with the testing facility in Limerick. Will the Minister of State have a look at that, as well as the costs associated with testing?

I would like to see the board report to the agriculture committee on a regular basis without the CEO because most of the time when a CEO comes in with a board or a chairman of a board, the prompts from the CEO help the chairman of the board. If the chairperson is as good as he or she says, and the board members are good, they should have a knowledge of the industry. I request that the Minister of State arranges for the board to appear before the committee without the CEO.

The 1958 Act was easily read and understood because of the language that was used. I wish to read a sentence from section 15(1) of the Bill:

The members of the Board may appoint an officer of the Board to be the chief executive officer and the chief executive officer shall carry on, manage and control generally the administration and business of the Board, advise the board of the Board in relation to the performance of its functions and perform such other functions as may be determined by the board of the Board as it considers necessary for the efficient and effective operation of the industry having regard to the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies.

It is one sentence but I had to read it three or four times to get my head around it. The language of legislation is for the legal profession. Legislators are mostly ordinary fellas and gals who try to work in simple English. When can we get legislation in the language of the ordinary people and not of the legal profession?

There is one equine sport that has still not been legislated for, which people seem to be scared to go near, namely, trotting. It might not come under the Minister of State's brief, but he might discuss it with the Minister. We need to do something about it. It is unregulated, there are many issues with it, and we need to do something about it. I know that State funds are being requested but I would be nervous about doing something like that because I am worried about that industry.