Clare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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522. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will request the Irish Coursing Club to extend drug testing of greyhounds to all hare coursing events; and if they refuse to do so, that his Department would initiate its own drug testing at all of these events in view of the fact that six greyhounds tested positive for banned substances at the National Coursing meeting in Clonmel in February. [17726/14]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Irish Coursing Club (ICC) is subject to the general control and direction of Bord na gCon, which is the statutory body with responsibility for the improvement and development of the greyhound industry, greyhound racing and coursing.

I have been informed that the ICC introduced new arrangements for the testing for prohibited substances for the 2012/3 coursing season. There were no positive results in the 2012/3 season. 6 positive results were reported in the 2013/4 season which are now being processed by the ICC in accordance with the rules governing such matters. I understand that the Executive Committee of the ICC plan to undertake a review of its arrangements for testing for prohibited substances in the near future and the Committee will decide on any changes that need to be made to the testing regime after considering the findings of the review.