Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 16b:

In page 38, line 1, to delete "may serve not more than 2 consecutive terms" and substitute "shall not serve more than 1 term and shall be replaced immediately to ensure no vacancy arises".

These amendments relate to the racing control committee. Amendment No. 16brelates to the length of the term served by members of the committee. The Bill provides that membership of the control committee will be for a period of four years per term. Under section 44(9), a member of the control committee may serve not more than two consecutive terms but I propose that members should not serve more than one term. The two consecutive terms' provision means that a board member could be a member of the control committee for up to eight years, which is a long period, particularly given the importance of the control committee in dealing with the drugs problem in the sport. It would be better to have a greater turnover of people on the control committee. I do not suggest that people should be turned over more frequently but that there should be fresh opinions coming to the committee. Eight years is a lengthy period for anyone to serve on what is a sub-committee of the Irish Greyhound Board. I propose that members only serve one four-year term, which is still a substantial period.

Amendment No. 16cdeals with conflicts of interest in the context of membership of the control committee. The Bill provides that a member of the control committee "shall disclose any potential conflict of interest". My amendment provides that members, including the chairperson "shall possess no conflict of interest whatsoever (to include family ties or involvement with greyhounds in any way) in order to exercise clear objectivity and independence". The control committee is concerned with the testing of greyhounds for prohibited substances and with test results that come back from the laboratories. My amendment seeks to provide reassurance to the outside world and to the sector that the control committee is independent, impartial and transparent and that its members do not have any conflicts of interest or linkages in respect of greyhounds.I do not say it is the case, but, for instance, if a member or the chairperson of the control committee was to have dogs trained by a trainer and if they tested positive for drugs, that would leave the member or the chairperson with a conflict of interest, as he or she would not be impartial and it would be wrong to suggest otherwise. I fully respect the fact that it is hard to get people to serve on committees and that many people have links to whatever interest is involved. That may well be the case, but if we are to properly deal with drug use in this sport, we cannot have people making decisions in cases with which they are linked in any way. That would be akin to an athlete testing positive for drugs and having a brother, sister or other family member on the adjudication committee of the sport concerned or at the World Anti-Doping Agency. Would that be allowed? Of course, it would not. Why should it be allowed here? There is no rationale to allow it to happen. That is from where my amendment is coming. If we are to clean up the sport, it is essential that we get right the foundations, of which this is another element.

I am willing to work with the Minister of State on this issue before Report Stage, but the measure is essential because we cannot have grey areas. I do not suggest, for example, that one of the control committee members or the chairperson is compromised. I am sure they do an excellent job, but I know for a fact that some members of the control committee have dogs who are racing and trained by trainers with questionable pasts in terms of drug use. How can they be at arm's length from the decision-making process? How can they provide for independent, objective scrutiny or decision-making? They really cannot do so because their decision-making is clouded, despite their best intentions. The legislation must be crystal clear. I suggest we must go down this road if we want to have a fresh wind in the sector and help everybody involved in it. This is not about attacking anybody; rather, it is about helping everyone and a sector which this year is in receipt of more than €300,000 per week from the betting fund. That is an awful lot of money going to the industry; therefore, we must make sure we get the absolute minimum requirements right. There cannot be grey areas. Any other sector or sport would not allow that to happen and greyhound racing should not be any different.