Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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320. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline his views on the circumstances which prompted a Minister of State (details supplied) to make a statement of regret to Seanad Éireann on 16 December 2014 further to having previously made factually incorrect statements to the House regarding a former member of the Irish Greyhound Board; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24940/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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My colleague, Minister of State Hayes addressed Seanad Éireann on the 19^thFebruary 2014 in his capacity as Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The matters under discussion involved the Greyhound industry and matters relating to Bord na gCon. In the course of Minister Hayes’ address he made reference to a former Board member of Bord na gCon. Subsequently the Minister received correspondence from the former board member in question pointing out some factual inaccuracies in his address to Seanad Eireann. On reflection, Minister Hayes accepted that there were some factual inaccuracies in the disputed address and he therefore undertook to correct the Record of the House by means of a statement which he made in Seanad Éireann on the 16^thDecember 2014. In this statement the Minister acknowledged the inaccuracies in his earlier address to the Seanad on the 19^thFebruary 2014 and he expressed his regret to the individual concerned and stated he was happy to correct the record in this regard.

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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321. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline his views on the serious issues raised by the Office of the Information Commissioner with respect to the record-keeping and corporate governance at the Irish Greyhound Board in a decision (details supplied), and the fact it was the first time the commissioner felt compelled to enter the premises of a public body to access documents; his plans arising from this; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24941/15]

Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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322. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to outline his views on a statement made by the Office of the Information Commissioner in a decision (details supplied); if he is satisfied that there was no file kept on the Limerick stadium project in view of its €23 million cost to taxpayers; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24942/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 321 and 322 together.

I expect all bodies under the aegis of my Department to adhere to the highest standards of governance and to co-operate fully with the Office of the Information Commissioner.

I do not regard the handling of this particular case by Bord na gCon as satisfactory. In this regard Bord na gCon accepts that there were delays in finalising this particular FOI request and that has indicated that these delays were due to significant organisational change and restructuring which were ongoing at that time. However I am assured that there were extensive files on Limerick Stadium.

Bord na gCon has informed me that because this particular FOI request was lengthy and encompassed a wide ranging number of files across many different areas, it required a dedicated staff resource over a number of months to address the queries concerned. The FOI request was recently completed. In light of the findings by the Office of the Information Commissioner, I understand that Bord na gCon is putting resources in place to review its entire document management system.

With regard to governance issues, Bord na gCon submitted an action plan in October 2014 with timelines for implementing the 27 recommendations in the Indecon Report dealing with governance, finance, regulation and welfare. This action plan is published on the BNG website. BNG has assured my Department that it is assiduously following up on these undertakings and I my Department will be monitoring progress in this regard.