Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If it is, that is fine. It was something we discussed on Committee Stage the other day. It is crucial from an animal welfare standpoint.

My amendment No. 4 is important because it takes the grassroots into consideration. I am not suggesting that the Minister of State will do it but there will be many Ministers coming after him. The Minister of State might even have the senior portfolio after the next general election. Who knows? He might be in a different Department. There will be other Ministers. I merely want to put at arm's length the ministerial appointment of two ordinary members representative of the sector given the interference that could happen if they do not come through the democratic structure of the federation. The federation should decide who it wants on the board and put those names forward to the Minister. That would be more democratic and acceptable to all of the stakeholders to whom I have spoken. That is certainly what they want.

The reason I included in the initial amendment the reduction of the board to six members is because the federation was quite happy to have no membership on the board if it saved resources. It gives an insight into the thinking of the Irish Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation that it was willing to give up even membership of the board if it thought the board would run more efficiently and effectively. I am suggesting here, however, that there is a need, given all of the concerns and given the depressed nature of the sector. We are dealing with a lot of people whose hearts have been invested in raising pups into racing dogs for the greyhound racing sector down through the years and they are deeply depressed at the state of the sector because of what has gone on. That is why they need a voice at the table where the decisions and the oversight take place. I ask that the Minister of State would consider amendment No. 4 in that regard.

In terms of amendment No. 14, I accept what the Minister of State stated about the expertise. However, I am trying to create certainty with amendment No. 14 because then we will know for certain that someone's term has expired in July 2019 and we can be planning ahead to have another person in place. If we are not doing that, what will happen is July 2019 will roll around, the board member will not be replaced, he or she will continue on indefinitely and there will be no urgency in replacing that person. That sends out the wrong message. It is one of the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, which the Minister of State chaired successfully.

It is crucial that we include this amendment because then we can plan forward. It is not a question of reducing the pool of potential candidates to fill positions. If two members of the board are coming from the federation anyway and there are six members who will have certain expertise, there would not be any difficulty in finding excellent candidates to fill these board positions, whether they are linked to the sector or not, as long as they have the relevant expertise, whether that is veterinary, finance or whatever else.

Given what has happened, this is important for the planning of board appointments in this case. I would even ask that the Minister of State accept this and review it in three years to see if it is working. If there is a difficulty with it at that stage, he could return to the fallback position. This is an important amendment to the composition of the board. It provides clarity and certainty. It will ensure that there is a turnover when there should be and that it is not allowed to roll on, with people serving on the boards for almost two decades, which is wrong. There should be a finality to board membership. That is the purpose of that amendment.