PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMITTEE:THE STATE'S greyhound racing board is on track to acquire a site in Limerick for a new €23 million stadium and headquarters.
Bord na gCon chief executive Adrian Neilan said yesterday it has signed "legal papers" to buy the old Limerick Racecourse site at Greenpark on the city's edge, and is now waiting for local authority approval for its plans.
The development will include a greyhound racing stadium and new headquarters for the State agency.
As the site it intends buying is not zoned for office development, Limerick city councillors will have to vote to approve the plan before it can go ahead.
The entire development will cost €23 million, including buying the land from the Limerick Racecourse Company. Bord na gCon intends paying for this from its own resources and with support from the State's Horse and Greyhound Fund, derived from a 1 per cent levy on bookmakers' turnover in the Republic.
Board chairman Dick O'Sullivan told the Dáil Committee of Public Accounts yesterday that an independent control committee, chaired by Kevin Heffernan, has been regulating the sport since late 2006.
It was established after a row blew up as a result of a disciplinary hearing in November 2005 at which two trainers, Paul Hennessy and John Kiely, were fined after their dogs tested positive for performance-enhancing drug erythropoietin (EPO).
At the time, the control committee included the then chairman, Paschal Taggart, and other board members. Details of the fines became public when the chief executive at the time, Aidan Tynan, resigned in January 2006.
Mr O'Sullivan said yesterday that details of all sanctions the body imposes are published.