Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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469. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the person or body that will be monitoring the footage from CCTV cameras installed at horse racing courses to prevent doping; if the footage will be reviewed daily or just when an incident occurs; how long will footage be stored for; how it will be stored; by whom the footage will be stored; and if he will request a statement from the IHRB Chief Executive Officer in relation to this. [21047/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Since 2018, the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board ( IHRB) is the regulatory body for all horseracing in Ireland. The IHRB is a company limited by guarantee set up by the Turf Club and the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee for the regulatory and licensing functions for Irish horseracing.

The role of the IHRB is provided for under the Horse Racing Ireland Act 2016 and subsequent Statutory Instruments.

The IHRB has informed my Department that the CCTV installation project at 25 racecourses, which commenced with a public procurement process in late 2021 is now live and operational.

The IHRB has further informed my Department that on days when a race fixture is taking place at a racecourse, the feed from the CCTV system will be monitored onsite throughout the day by security officers employed by the body. The footage will be reviewed subsequently in the IHRB office if matters arise which require review or investigation. The footage which is recorded on race days is retained on a secure digital video recorder which is kept at the IHRB office. Footage from non-race days is recorded on a separate secure server located at the racecourse; only racecourse personnel will have access to this server. The race day footage will be stored on the IHRB system for six months whereas non-race day footage is retained at the racecourse for 30 days.