Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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537. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he has raised the issue of early morning greyhound racing with Bord na gCon; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50883/18]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Bord na gCon is a commercial state body, established under the Greyhound Industry act, 1958, chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. It is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, food and the Marine.

Bord na gCon has informed me that early morning racing will begin in December in Kilkenny Greyhound Stadium and in January 2019 in Kilcohan Park Greyhound Stadium in Waterford. The purpose of the early morning meetings is to provide greyhound racing to meet demand in international jurisdictions that operate in different time zones throughout Europe and elsewhere, in order to meet a demand from the IGB’s partner, SIS (Sports Information Services).

SIS are already offering 30,000 greyhound races a year in the UK and Ireland, making it the most comprehensive offering on the market. The morning meetings are an expansion of the current arrangement with SIS whereby seven afternoon/evening greyhound race meetings are taken on a weekly basis.

The morning races are for a six month trial period. Bord na gCon's Strategic Plan 2018-2022 has a key emphasis on varying the product for a modern Irish audience. The greyhound industry, like lots of other industries, has had to change and adapt in a number of different ways in recent years. The staging of races is a commercial decision for Bord Na gCon.