Skip to main content
Normal View

Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 31 May 2006

Vol. 620 No. 5

Priority Questions.

Greyhound Racing Industry.

Jimmy Deenihan

Question:

9 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism when the Dalton report, which he commissioned some time ago, into happenings in Bord na gCon, will be published; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21128/06]

Jack Wall

Question:

10 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if, in view of the extensive leaking to the media of sections of the Dalton report, he will publish the final report without delay; if he plans to make further changes to the board of Bord na gCon; when the term of office of the current chairperson expires; if he anticipates changes to the legislative framework under which Bord na gCon operates following the Dalton report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21126/06]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 9 and 10 together.

As the Deputies are aware, on 1 February 2006 I appointed Mr. Tim Dalton, former Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, to carry out an investigation into issues relating to corporate management in Bord na gCon as well as the management of positive tests for banned substances. I received Mr. Dalton's draft report last month and my Department immediately sought guidance from the Office of the Attorney General on how to proceed with the issues raised in his report.

In accordance with the advice of the Attorney General, copies and, in some cases, extracts of the Dalton report have been sent to persons referred to in the report on a confidential basis to afford them an opportunity to submit observations on the report to me by the close of business today. Any comments received will then be made available to Mr. Dalton for the purposes of finalising his report, following which I will present proposals to my Cabinet colleagues for dealing with the recommendations made in the Dalton report. I will also seek approval for immediate publication of the report.

I regret that my requests to the various parties to refrain from comment on the subject matter of the report until due process has been completed have not been respected. I do not intend to comment at this stage on any aspect of Mr. Dalton's report until the report itself is formally in the public domain as it would be entirely inappropriate for me to do so. I will deal fully with these issues as soon as I am in a position to do so.

In a reply to a similar question on the previous occasion he was before the House, the Minister indicated that all parties involved in the investigation would be granted due process. In light of the selected leaking of documents associated with this case, have people received due process? In January, for example, a letter sent to the Minister by the chief executive of Bord na gCon was leaked to RTE and a number of television and radio programmes dealt with the document. Two weeks ago, before the persons named in the Dalton report even received a copy of it, The Sunday Tribune and Sunday Independent published lead articles featuring leaked details of the recommendations and findings of the report. Does this constitute due process? Does the Minister agree that the leaks have been highly selective in that they have been targeted at the chairman of Bord na gCon? I will withhold my judgment on the chairman until I receive a copy of the report which will also be discussed in the House. Surely it is not due process when one person, a busy businessman who gave ten years of his life to Bord na gCon and from which he took no fees, should be singled out and targeted in this manner. This is clearly unfair.

This is not the first leak from a Government which appears to run its affairs through a series of leaks. Last week, when the Fine Gael Party submitted a Private Members' Bill to the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, it was immediately leaked to the media by the Minister or one of his officials. Surely this is not the correct approach. I ask the Minister to respond to my questions on due process and the treatment of the chairman of Bord na gCon.

I deeply regret the fact that extracts from the Dalton report were published in some newspapers. I assure the House that neither I nor any officials in my Department were involved in any of the leaks concerned, which I deplore. While it is not for me to make a judgment as to the nature of the leaks, inasmuch as I requested people to desist from commenting on the contents of the report, I also deplore the fact that parts of it were leaked.

Having said that, I acknowledge the work of officials in my Department with whom I have had the privilege of working for four years. They are people of the highest integrity. There is no need for me to act as an apologist for them as their work speaks for itself. I was involved with them in the renewal of the horse and greyhound racing fund when we increased it to a total of €550 million until the end of 2008. Given that the greyhound industry is entitled to one fifth of this amount, it will be clear that my commitment and that of officials in my Department to the greyhound industry has been proven in tangible form.

I repeat that I regret that leaks took place and people sought to comment prior to due process being completed. If the advice I issued at the outset of this process had been adhered to, we would all be in a much better position today.

The Minister received a copy of the report on 5 April. Does he agree that the subsequent delay in publishing it has allowed a farce to be created and diminished the standing of everyone concerned, including the Minister who has failed to take action on this matter, which must be brought to a conclusion? Will no action be taken on foot of the Dalton report before the summer recess? I understand morale among Bord na gCon is low because nothing has been done. Members of the public wonder if something is being hidden because the report has not been published.

This issue has also been surrounded by a series of leaks and interviews. I am informed that nearly every member of the press has a copy of the report, although Deputy Deenihan and I have not yet received a copy. The episode has degenerated into a farce. The Minister must make decisions and inform the House when action will be taken on foot of the report to allow us to move on. A growing number of people benefit from the greyhound industry which attracts large numbers of people to tracks and has created many new greyhound owners. It is wrong that no markers have been put down following the report. Will the Minister give the House a date on which action will be taken? The importance of the greyhound industry cannot be overstated.

There is no farce from my point of view. The situation is quite straightforward — I requested people to observe due process. As I have said before, neither I nor my officials leaked the report and we were not responsible for it. I have also said on several occasions that, irrespective of what anybody said, we would observe due process. There was no point in setting out on that road a couple of months ago and coming along now saying we would terminate that process and make decisions on the hoof. I will not do it. In recent weeks, people have been given the opportunity to express their views on the report. It is only right and proper that this should occur. They have until the end of business today to make their observations.

In the intervening period, I have also taken the opportunity to appoint two new members to Bord na gCon. I wrote to thank Mr. John Hegarty and Mr. Cathal Curley for their services to the board over three and nine years respectively. I decided that it was opportune at this point to appoint two new members to the board: Mr. Séamus Mallon, the former MP, representing Northern interests; and Mr. Dick O'Sullivan, who has made an enormous contribution as the manager of Punchestown, in Mr. Hegarty's place. These are two good appointments. I again thank the outgoing members, while wishing the new members well.

Whereas I welcome the appointment of the new members — I know both people — I remind the Minister that there is no female member of Bord na gCon. This flies in the face of Government policy concerning gender balance on such boards. It is inexplicable why the Minister has not made such an appointment.

Does the Minister agree that the chairman of Bord na gCon had no option but to publicly defend his name, reputation and integrity because of leaks to the media in order to personalise this affair and in some way damage him as well? All of this refers back to the use of prohibited substances, EPO in this case. Before I left office in 1997, I had prepared a Bill to take control out of the hands of the board so that in this instance, the chairman of the board would not preside over this type of case. It was not carried forward by the Government at that time. Despite what the Tánaiste, Deputy Harney, said about the Supreme Court case, on numerous occasions in the House since then I have raised the issue of control and the fact that it should be taken from the board. Would the Minister accept my proposed private Members' Bill at this time as an immediate solution to this problem when we discuss the report here?

Will the Minister make the observations available to us when we discuss the matter in the House? In that way, not alone will we discuss the Dalton report but also the observations of the various persons affected by that report. That would only be fair to Deputy Wall and me so we can be well informed when we have the debate in this House.

I anticipate that the Dalton report will deal with the question of where drug control at Bord na gCon should lie in future. Clearly, that forms part of the report and I anticipate that we will have a discussion on it. With regard to the question of statements made by various parties, I do not think I would have any difficulty — subject to the Attorney General's approval, which would have to come — with these statements being annexed to Mr. Dalton's report, which must be polished or finalised in the context of the documents coming forward.

As regards whether the outgoing chairman had any choice, let me preface my remarks by saying that I have acknowledged——

——in the past that Mr. Taggart made an enormous contribution to the Irish greyhound industry.

Did the Minister say he was outgoing?

Mr. Taggart made an enormous contribution to the Irish greyhound industry. In that respect, Deputy Deenihan seeks to suggest that Mr. Taggart had no choice. I would remind Deputy Deenihan that when I called for due process in the first instance, there was no report in existence and segments of a report were not leaked. Nonetheless, the chairman decided that he had to make a public comment, even though I did say it was necessary for all parties to observe due process. It is important to make that point.

It was on the Sunday papers.

I am anxious to give Deputy Wall an opportunity to contribute.

Now that the Minister has read the Dalton report and its proposals, does he anticipate changes to the legislative framework under which Bord na gCon operates?

I anticipate that legislation will be required on foot of the Dalton report.

Will the Minister clarify his use of the word "outgoing"? Mr. Taggart is still the chairman, is he not?

He is the chairman until he becomes the outgoing chairman. Is that not the case?

Of course.

Regional Tourism Authorities.

Jimmy Deenihan

Question:

11 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism the position regarding the implementation of the PricewaterhouseCoopers reports on the RTAs; the way in which the new arrangements will address the decline of pure holiday tourism in the regions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21129/06]

Individual actions and measures relating to tourism promotion or development at regional level are day-to-day functions of the State tourism agencies.

As the Deputy is aware, Fáilte Ireland is proceeding with the revision of regional tourism structures and is also gearing up its own structures to line up with the proposed new arrangements at regional level. A new senior management position of director of regional development is expected to be filled shortly and a due diligence process with each of the regional tourism authorities is almost complete. Fáilte Ireland has advised me that it expects that the changes will be implemented by the end of the summer.

CSO statistics for overseas tourism for 2005 show a positive result both in terms of overseas numbers — up 6% or 400,000 additional visitors, to almost 7 million — and revenue earnings up almost 8% to €3.455 billion, excluding carrier receipts and cross Border tourism. On both counts, we are ahead of targets for the year.

As global competition intensifies and consumer preferences evolve, these results represent a robust performance by the sector and confirm how dynamic and responsive the Irish tourism sector is.

It is widely acknowledged within the tourism sector that growing the pure holiday component of the overseas tourism business has proven difficult in recent years, both at a regional and national level. In 2005, the holiday segment of all overseas travel to Ireland grew by 2.7% in revenue terms, significantly lower than the 8% overall revenue earnings growth. This clearly impacts on the holiday business at a regional level. Both Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland are working to help the industry to address the issues behind this trend, which is very much a global phenomenon.

It is also important to emphasise that the visiting friends or relatives or VFR component of the overall tourism business continues to be of immense strategic importance. It grew by more than 17% in revenue terms in 2005.

The home holiday market is an increasingly important component of the tourism business in Ireland, particularly in terms of seasonal and regional spread. Some 86% of holiday trips and 89% of holiday nights by domestic tourists are now spent outside the Dublin area. This offsets, to some extent, the relative strength of Dublin in the overseas visitors market. In 2005, expenditure on domestic tourism was up across all regions, albeit at different rates.

The fact that all regions and sectors are not benefiting to the same extent from our tourism success continues to be a matter receiving attention from my Department and the State tourism agencies as we evolve our tourism policy and programmes. I am confident, however, that the new regional tourism arrangements, with enhanced functions being put in place at local level, will help tourism to grow in the regions to a greater extent than at present. The various region-specific initiatives introduced this year by Fáilte Ireland and Tourism Ireland Ltd. will further help to address this situation.

How will these new arrangements help to stop the obvious east-west tourism divide in this country? How will the new arrangements, which are really scrapping RTAs, help the ailing bed and breakfast industry? Traditional bed and breakfast establishments, which were hitherto the pillar of rural tourism, are now closing right across the country every day. How will the new arrangements bring back the growth of activity holidays here? We have been losing market share in areas such as golf, hill-walking, angling, equestrian sports and cruising to Scotland, Wales, England and continental Europe. How will these new arrangements — the breaking up and scrapping, more or less, of the RTAs — help stem the difference between east and west and the other factors to which I referred?

The enhancement of the powers of the RTAs should not be considered in isolation. It is the case that enhanced powers will be given to the RTAs in terms of marketing and product development. However, it is also important to realise that we have broken up the country into three regions for the purposes of marketing to improve regional spread — the regions are south, east and west. The idea is to emphasise not just the urban advantages but the advantages of the rural hinterlands. The local marketing initiative, which will provide funds to local marketing groups to enable them to market, should also be taken into account. In addition, there is an innovation fund which will help to build up the product in specific regions where innovative proposals come forward. Region-specific marketing campaigns are continuing on the Continent, in Britain and further afield.

I am pleased that we had a record number of visitors — 6.9 million — to Ireland last year. The initiatives we have undertaken will help to spread more visitors to the regions. There is an opportunity, in particular with regard to outdoor activities such as golf, through the Ryder Cup, to market Ireland's countryside to a greater extent than ever before.

Deputy Deenihan is correct that there is a difficulty with regard to bed and breakfast accommodation. There is a far greater number of hotel rooms and hotels in Ireland today than ten years ago. Many of the hotels can be relatively competitive when compared to bed and breakfast accommodation, which causes difficulty for the latter. It is also correct to suggest that the demographics of bed and breakfast accommodation are causing concern in the sense that younger couples are not as inclined to stay in them as was the case, perhaps because both partners or the husband and wife work outside the home.

Does the Minister agree there is concern that confusion will arise when the PWC report is put in place in the coming weeks? Five RTAs will be diluted and scrapped. Two RTAs, those of Dublin and Shannon, and three super-regions, as the Minister refers to them, will remain to market Ireland. There will be total confusion.

Will the Minister state how pure holiday tourism will be promoted in the regions? Pure holiday tourism, as the Minister more or less indicated, is on the decline in all regions outside Dublin whereas it is on the increase in Dublin.

The PWC report makes clear that six new regional tourism partnerships, RTPs, should be established and that each of the RTPs will include regionally based industry representatives, city and country borough managers, local authority representatives and Fáilte Ireland nominees. The chairperson of each RTP will be nominated from within the partnership and will have relevant commercial experience, and these chairpersons will become members of a regional tourism council, which will also include nominees from ITIC, Tourism Ireland and Fáilte Ireland. There is a great degree of integration.

Sports Capital Programme.

Jack Wall

Question:

12 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism if his Department is providing funding for the recently announced programme of refurbishment and redevelopment of major GAA venues around the country; his views on the need to update facilities at many of the country’s larger GAA stadia; if he has had talks with the GAA on this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21127/06]

I am aware of the wish of the Gaelic Athletic Association to develop a multi-annual programme for the refurbishment and redevelopment of major GAA venues. I am very much in favour of such a development and would point out to the Deputy that it has been practice over recent years to make provision in the annual sports capital programme allocations for grant support for a number of major GAA grounds. I intend to continue in this mode.

In the processing of the applications received annually under the sports capital programme all applications received from the county GAA boards for the refurbishment or redevelopment of their county grounds are forwarded to the GAA for its views on the strategic importance of the applications. Following its own internal consultative process, the GAA identifies its priorities and, having regard for this prioritisation and the levels of available funding, I make allocations in respect of selected projects.

Since 1998, a total of €14.43 million has been allocated towards the refurbishment and redevelopment of 24 GAA county grounds. Among the projects which have been supported are Pearse Stadium in Galway, the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, Markievicz Park in Sligo, O'Moore Park in Portlaoise, O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Hyde Park in Roscommon, Páirc Mac Diarmada in Carrick-on-Shannon and St. Conleth's Park in Newbridge. Since 1998 almost €134 million has been allocated towards GAA projects at local and regional level, which represents some 35% of the total allocation made under the programme. This funding is in addition to the funding of €103.5 million allocated over the same period towards the redevelopment of Croke Park into one of Europe's finest sports stadiums.

As recently as 16 May last, I and my officials met the president of the GAA and his officials. At this meeting, inter alia, the issue of the provision of funding in respect of strategic provincial facilities and county grounds was discussed. I understand the GAA has established a national infrastructural and safety committee which will undertake a review of its venues with a view to the formulation of a new strategy for the development of GAA facilities at regional and local level. I have indicated that I would be happy to consider any requests for funding from the GAA which it may wish to make arising from that review.

I welcome the Minister's statement on the GAA grounds. He might want to check the record to ascertain whether St. Conleth's Park was included. Although it was not the Minister's fault, I understand it was not included and that the funding was not drawn down on that occasion.

The thinking behind this question relates to the major demand for funding at Semple Stadium and Fitzgerald Stadium. Both stadia are entrenched in GAA folklore and, apart from Croke Park, are the two most famous stadia in the country. The estimated cost of a refurbishment of Semple Stadium is €18 million. It is difficult to foresee the GAA, the Tipperary County Board or the Munster Council being able to raise that amount. With that in mind, I put down this question to discover the Minister's position in regard to the two stadia, given their importance in the history of the GAA. In latter years, we have seen all-Ireland finals played in Thurles when they had always previously been played in Croke Park.

I accept the Minister's position on proposals yet to be put to him by the GAA. Will the Minister and his Department look beyond the position that operated heretofore with regard to grounds? No other grounds will demand as much funding for development as Semple Stadium and Fitzgerald Stadium, and €18 million was not invested in any other county ground, by a long shot. Given their importance to the structure of the GAA, will the Government, through the Minister and his Department, look favourably on applications for Semple Stadium and Fitzgerald Stadium?

The stadium I discussed with the GAA authorities is Semple Stadium — I discussed it with the officials of the Munster Council when we met. I do not think anybody has an understanding of Irish culture unless he or she has stood on the terrace at Semple Stadium on the day of a Munster hurling final. Therefore, the Deputy can take it that I empathise and sympathise with the cause he espouses.

The GAA appears to have come to the conclusion, which I welcome, that Semple Stadium should be the second stadium of the GAA in the country. In those circumstances, it will receive the recognition which the conferring on it of such a status would require.

With regard to St. Conleth's Park in Kildare, in which Deputy Wall will be particularly interested, in 1999 a grant of €253,948 was sanctioned for that ground. This was followed in 2005 with a grant of €200,000. I do not know whether that sum was drawn down — I accept it probably was not. However, the grant is still in existence. I look forward to the day when it is drawn down.

What will happen if there is a new proposal?

If there is a new proposal we can discuss it then.

Top
Share