Results 401-420 of 1,052,084 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Tom Kitt OR speaker:Brendan Griffin OR speaker:Cathal Berry OR speaker:Martin Kenny OR speaker:Marc Ó Cathasaigh OR speaker:Richard Boyd Barrett OR speaker:Joe Flaherty) in 'Committee meetings'

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Was it for personal gain or was it to cover issues that were happening within the finances of the organisation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I see that a number of steps have been taken to guard against that. What is the procedure now for someone to transfer money within the organisation?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: That is very good. I assume the €360,000 was returned.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Did that cause any issues then for the Jockeys Emergency Fund given the 90 or so days?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: I thank Mr. O'Loughlin. I have a question for Dr. Hillyer on anti-doping measures. There were 5,866 samples in 2023. What is the target for this year?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Last year there were just fewer than 39,000 runners. I was never good at maths but that is probably less than 20% sampled.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: What is the international standard or the norm?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: With that international best practice, in terms of a percentage, we are probably at one in five horses competing. What is the international standard?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Is Dr. Hillyer comfortable that we are not scaling it up? Does he think that we should scale it up, notwithstanding resources? Given the vast amount the State invests in horse racing and the annual contribution to horse racing, which I fully support, and which is routinely derided by many of the public, does he believe there is an onus on IHRB to ensure the absolute integrity of this sport?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Horse racing has a good many friends within this House at the minute but this might not always be the case. IHRB certainly must ramp up what it is doing in anti-doping. It is increasingly an issue among the general public. Most of us who grew up in rural Ireland fully support horse racing and country pursuits, and we enthusiastically support them and follow them, but there is an onus on...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Are there plans to build on that?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: We have the big festivals happening again in 2025. Has the IHRB met with any the representatives of the Irish festivals with which it will do that joint initiative?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Will that cross-agency approach include some of the Irish festivals in 2025?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Will it be one or two?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Joe Flaherty: Two. That is very good.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Martin Kenny: I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I apologise, as I was late arriving and missed their opening remarks. I will make a few brief comments. We all recognise the importance of the equine industry in Ireland and the huge contribution it makes to the economy and our reputation internationally. Part of that is about having a proper regulatory structure in place to ensure...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Martin Kenny: Up to what scale does Mr. O’Loughlin not need not to sign off?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed) (6 Nov 2024)

Martin Kenny: We would like to think it would not have happened before, but it did, and that is why we are in this position. We also need to recognise that there have been issues with documentation. The issue of passports has arisen here before. I am aware that our guests are not directly responsible in this regard but the governance needs to be tightened up with haste because it is a problem for...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Eradication of Bovine TB: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (6 Nov 2024)

Martin Kenny: I thank the witnesses for their opening statement and the discussion in respect of the situation with TB eradication. It is something farmers across the country have had a somewhat jaundiced view of, in some cases. A lot of money has been spent on it and it is not really delivering. We can all say that pretty truthfully. We had the Minister in here yesterday and I raised this with him in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Eradication of Bovine TB: Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (6 Nov 2024)

Martin Kenny: Dr. Barrett is saying the calf is not born with TB.