I have a number of concerns about the operation of Bord na gCon. It has been charged, under the 1958 Act, with responsibility to look after the greyhound industry. However the industry has been gradually going downhill. In his Second Stage contribution the Minister quoted greyhound racing meeting attendances falling from one million in 1975 to 700,000 in 1992.
A range of issues were not addressed by Bord na gCon. It recognised that there was a major crisis in 1990 and drew up a five year plan. One of the major proposals in the plan appeared to be the disposal of the tracks that were to be used to develop the industrry. The track in Clonmel has been sold and the Youghal track will be sold. It is also looking at the possibility of disposing of the track in Harold's Cross and transferring its activities to Shelbourne.
This does not suggest an industry coming to grips with itself through Bord na gCon and trying to survive and grow. When those tracks close, there will be no more tracks in those areas. Greyhound track racing needs to be reasonably near those who attend it because people are not in a position to travel across the country to attend tracks. They have to be local and it appears that the philosophy of Bord na gCon is to move from that. It has some kind of super-centre in mind for Shelbourne and I do not think that is the right way to approach the proper development of track racing.
Under the 1958 Act, as I understand it, coursing was given over to the Irish Coursing Club while remaining under the general control and direction of Bord na gCon. I do not wish to involve myself in a debate about live hare coursing as we will have an opportunity to look at that later under Deputy Gregory's amendment. However, there have been major problems in that area and a long campaign drawing attention to what many people genuinely saw as difficulties with live hare coursing.
Nothing was done until this year when there was a major debate which Deputy Gregory initiated in the Dáil. People inside and outside the House contributed to the debate and a number of media programmes also drew attention to the issue. Notwithstanding the fact that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry had established a task force earlier in the year the situation was brought to a head by the debate on the Gregory Bill. Only at that stage did the Irish Coursing Club decide to introduce muzzling for certain trials and competitions on a voluntary basis. It was far too late and that is why people have now taken definite positions on the question of live hare coursing, I certainly am one of them.
I have a major problem with Bord na gCon as currently established. The amendment proposed by Deputy Molloy refers to a number of organisations and the representation they should have on the board. There is nothing unreasonable about such a suggestion. However, the greyhound industry needs a major dose of commercial realism as it was not making an impression in terms of its ability to survive and so on. When making nominations or adopting a procedure the Minister should pay attention to commercial reality and make it clear to the board that if it closes all the tracks it will end up with an exclusive industry based in one location which is almost inaccessible to the ordinary punter.
Another aspect of the operation of Bord na gCon concerns me although I am not sure of its responsibility in the area. Some years ago there was a major public scandal about the manner in which greyhounds were exported from this country to Spain and Pakistan, if my memory serves me correctly. This country drew upon itself international opprobrium for the manner in which we allowed those greyhounds to be exported, the transport arrangements and the conditions and treatment to which they were subjected when they eventually reached Spain. There was major international concern at the time. The responsibility for supervising this rests with Bord na gCon or the Irish Coursing Club if that club was involved in exporting the greyhounds.
There have been many problems in the industry and they will not be resolved in the interest of the industry unless some of the major issues are tackled. One has to involve people who are capable of being commercially realistic and understand what the public require. They must also be prepared to deal with problems about the manner in which dogs have been trained, the coursing issue and the dark side of the industry which will go on regardless of whether dogs are muzzled at coursing meetings, that is the background business of blooding and so on. We have seen cases of it in the press and that is something none of us wants to see happening. It does involve cruelty to animals and will have to be dealt with.
If people are really committed to this industry, through the board and the representative organisations, they will have to lift the lid on all this and get rid of it to put the industry on a sound footing and above criticism about the manner in which it is run and the way dogs are trained. The industry will then have an opportunity to grow and develop. This is an important issue as far as the composition of the board is concerned.
It is important that the Minister would not leave nominees on the board for too long because they can become very stale, that may be part of the previous problem. The Minister mentioned three year appointments, which is good, because a reasonable turnover of a sizeable number on the board would be welcome. Those on the board would know that they are on it for a particular period of time and have to get their work done within that period, five years would have been too long.
There is need to clean up the industry. I attended and enjoyed many track meetings but the condition of some of them is appalling. They are not an enticement to go out for an evening's entertainment. The manner in which the tracks were allowed to disintegrate is a reflection on the board. I appreciate that finance was required but Bord na gCon was responsible for these facilities and simply presided over their deterioration for a long time. That is part of the reason the industry itself went into disrepute.
It is a standing joke that it is easy to slow a dog down on a particular night. People who own one or two greyhounds know how to do this although of course they do not do it themselves. They will also joke about the different things that can happen to discourage a dog from running at its best speed. The dog is fed, or is not fed, is fed too much of one food or too little of another food. That is another area that needs to be looked at. People involved in the industry always say that spectators at a meeting must know what dog to back. There is no chance of winning a bet by picking a dog at random from the card.
These important issues must be addressed by the board. If the Minister makes the right appointments they will be of assistance to the industry. If he makes the wrong appointments or appointments for the wrong reasons, as suggested by some contributors here, then all he will do is further affect the ability of the industry to develop properly and be a place of entertainment. It cannot be a place of entertainment unless the conditions are right. People who participate must be able to do so confident that the industry is properly organised and those who support it must know that practices which were severely criticised will be eliminated. They must know that it is an industry of which the country and those who participate in it can be proud and people who attend for entertainment must be able do so with a certain degree of peace of mind.