Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I notice the Minister does not have any officials with him, which is probably a testament to his mastery of his brief. I intend to try to test the latter a little. I have taken a disjunctive view of today's statements. It was proposed that we would have statements on agriculture and climate. They have a united meaning, but they also have a separate meaning. I do not expect the Minister to have answers off the top of his head in response to what I want to talk about today, which is the horse racing industry. I want to talk about the allegations that were made about doping being a major problem in horse racing. Hearings took place at the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, before which various representatives of the industry and the Department appeared. Those hearings led to the production of a report. I do not know if the Minister has had an opportunity to comment on the report or its recommendations in the Seanad. The issues that were discussed are live and serious. A number of recommendations were made, and these have implications for the Department and Government policy. The Government may have a view on some of the recommendations, generally or specifically.The context is that in recent years, a number of allegations have been made that suggest a serious examination of horse racing and integrity in horse racing is warranted. The Minister will be aware of articles in theSunday Independentby Mr. Paul Kimmage and others and the intervention of Mr. Jim Bolger and so on. As I said, he will be aware the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine met during the summer gone by and heard from the various stakeholders. All of that is important to address because we need to protect and preserve-----