Remarks of Mr. Phil Meaney, Chairman Irish Greyhound Board

Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

21.10.2014

Good afternoon, Chairman and Members of the Committee,

I am very pleased to be here today. It’s timely for a number of reasons, not least that I am speaking to you at the time of Bord na gCon’s response to the Indecon Report which was published in July last.

The greyhound industry is a significant one, with a footprint in every county in Ireland. It has an important economic dimension and employs several thousand people, both directly and indirectly. There are many dimensions to the greyhound industry; it is variously a sport, a business, and a community-based activity that has a value beyond the exclusively commercial. We know that as a fund raising vehicle, greyhound racing is hugely important to sports club, charities and the voluntary tier and makes an enormous contribution at that level.

By way of context, the Irish Greyhound Board licenses a total of 17 tracks of which 9 are owned by the Board and 10 operated by it. The remainder are owned and operated by private companies.

We are funded through a combination of income generated by our own racing-related activities which include the operation of Tote wagering from which we retain a share of the receipts. Exchequer funding comes through the Horse and Jockey Racing Fund. The recent Budget decision to provide an extra €2.8 million to the greyhound industry through the Fund is most welcome, particularly given the reduction of funds through that mechanism to our industry of 30% over a six year period.

Notwithstanding the difficult trading environment for the industry, there has been steady progress on a number of fronts. In recent years, Bord nagCon has discharged a €2.5 million commitment to Dundalk Stadium undertaken in 2006, invested €1 million in Clonmel Stadium and refurbished Youghal Track at a cost of €150,000.

The Board formulated a new Five Year Strategic Plan which at present is being updated in the face of current trading conditions and the Indecon Report. It has also put in place new arrangements with our bank and introduced a much more streamlined organisational structure reporting to the chief executive.

We have put in place a basis for the exploitation of the commercial potential of co-mingling and the streaming of Irish greyhound racing to an international audience.

The Board has also introduced and implemented a new animal welfare code.

Greyhound racing and indeed coursing are minority sports competing for space in a very crowded marketplace. We have been badly hit by the recession; of that there is no question. Traditional patterns of attendance are changing. In this regard, new technology is a double edged sword. It presents commercialopportunities but also diminishes the need for attendance at race tracks. The business model going forward has to take account of this transition. The capital investment that has been made and which is sometimes criticised, will allow the industry the capacity to market greyhound racing with consideration for changing consumer tastes, higher spectator expectations and new demographics.

The Indecon Report provides an independent review of the industry and the work of the Board. The Irish Greyhound Board enthusiastically supported the Minister’s decision in directing the review to be undertaken. It was necessary and desirable in the light of the radically changed trading landscape, under resourcing of the industry caused by severe cost cutting in IGB in recent years and the massive changes in the wagering environment, both positive and negative, that an informed independent view of the industry be taken. We welcomed the Report and regard it and our response to it as defining moments for the industry.

Indecon outlined twenty seven recommendations on finance, governance, regulation and animal welfare and you now have our response in a series of time-lined proposals to implement the recommendations. Our chief executive, Geraldine Larkin, will deal in more detail with Indecon shortly but I would like to offer some thoughts at this point.

The Indecon Report is a pretty prescriptive document but in fact deals with issues on which the Board was very clearly focused in any case. We have already implemented its recommendations on strengthening the audit and risk management functions in IGB.Our immediate priority is to stabilise the finances of Bord nagCon while allowing it to breathe and to improve its commercial performance. All of that will involve an aggressive programme to improve attendances, develop additional sources of income and it will involve the sweating of assets and the sale of assets.

We have a serious financial situation caused by significant decline in most categories of our turnover since 2008. Indecon itself references the negative developments in the Irish economy as contributors to that decline. In the middle of a recession, people have to make choices and they don’t have to go greyhound racing. The more recent positive economic indicators and the pickup in employment numbers will help but there will be a lag period before we will see significant impacts.

There is no doubt that decisions which will be taken in the coming years will be difficult for some stakeholders to accept. But all stakeholders will have to accept that the decisions taken can only be on the basis of what is good for the industry as a whole. There is a radical cultural change required in how we manage the industry and how we go forward. The notion of poorly performing tracks having financial subsidy and support in perpetuity is gone. Individual stadia will have to stand on their own two feet and be able to demonstrate a capacity to perform under certain headings. There is likely to be rationalisation of tracks over a period and Harold Cross will be sold at the appropriate time.

There will be a significant ramping up of governance and controls at IGB. That process has already commenced. Improvement of governance at IGB will be assisted by an external review of all corporate governance procedures and the establishment of a new Code of Governance appropriate to it. These are important steps forward as is the facilitation of Board members to focus on significant, macro issues in IGB through the end of their Board involvement in local tracks and stadia to which they have tremendous commitment but which is hugely time consuming.

Likewise there will be changes with regard to regulation and welfare. The Board wants absolute transparency in these areas and where there are gaps in information for stakeholders, then we are committed to addressing those and enforcing the regulations - as you will see from our response to Indecon.

I am sure you will wish to deal in more detail with these issues but for now I will finish my comments and thank you once again for your invitation to address you.