Niall Collins (Limerick, Fianna Fail)
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338. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he is satisfied that the Irish Greyhound Board is liquid and solvent and has, at all times since March 2012, been trading within its €25 million debt limit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25168/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I have received assurances from Bord na gCon that at all times since March 2012 Bord na gCon has been solvent and operating within agreed bank facilities in relation to liquidity. Bord na gCon has assured me that it has neither breached its approved bank borrowing limit of €25m at any stage since March 2012, nor requested any increase to the agreed bank facilities.

The annual report and accounts of Bord na gCon for the years ending 31^stDecember 2012 and 2013, audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and published on Bord na gCon’s website, indicate that BNG was solvent during that period. The accounts indicate that at 31st December 2012 and 2013 respectively, Bord na gCon’s net bank borrowings stood at €22.2 and €21.8m.

Bord na gCon’s annual report and accounts for the year ending 31^stDecember 2014, are currently being audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Those accounts, which are not yet published, indicate that the BNG’s net bank borrowings at 31st December 2014 stood at €22.4m.

I am of course anxious that Bord na gCon should strengthen its overall financial position and reduce its borrowings over time. The Indecon report, which I commissioned, makes a number of recommendations in this regard. Bord na gCon assures me that it is progressing with the implementation of those recommendations, including an asset disposal strategy aimed at reducing its level of borrowing.