Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Anyway, we need to protect and preserve what is a vital sector within Ireland, both in terms of elite sporting achievement but also in terms of the number of jobs involved. We need to ensure that the great many people who love horse racing, including in my own family I might add, can continue to enjoy and contribute to a sport which is run to the best possible standards of fairness and integrity.

When the agriculture committee examined the sector last July to the extent that it did, and the extent to what it can do is limited in three hearings, it made reference to two broad areas, that is, the governance of the sector and the manner in which it regulates and monitors potential doping of horses. The Minister will be aware that major allegations were made, which came from a very credible quarter. I will leave it at that. We are not talking about random allegations from people with no knowledge of the sector.

The Minister will also be aware that the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, IHRB, which monitors for doping and is responsibility for integrity in the sport, receives somewhere short of €10 million through Horse Racing Ireland, which in turn receives its money substantially from the betting taxes. He will be aware that is split approximately 80% between the horse racing industry and greyhounds.

I argued, and it was not disputed, that the current board structure of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, which has responsibility for doping, is very closed shop in that it is entirely an emanation of the Turf Club, effectively. When something comprises entirely industry insiders, some of whom might be engaged in very substantial commercial transactions with the very people they are regulating, there is at the very least a perception of a potential conflict of interest. It may be said, of course, that it is one thing to be on the board of an organisation and another to be operating. There is very little doubt, however, that there should be no connection at all between people who have any involvement in the owning, breeding, training or sale of horses and the regulation of integrity in the sport. There is absolutely no need for it. At the very least, we can say that any such body should have a majority of lay members, by which I mean people who do not have hand, act or part in owning, training, breeding and the purchase or sale of horses. There would also need to be an independent chair. That was substantially supported in the recommendations of the agriculture committee.