The IGB, which receives annual state funding of around €16m, hired top communications firm Heneghan PR a week after the documentary claimed that 6,000 greyhounds were being killed every year.

The horse and greyhound racing industries have banned the long-standing practice of allowing under-age on-track gambling.

The €23m the Department of Education plans to pay for the Harold’s Cross greyhound stadium in Dublin could be well over twice its market value, a TD and auctioneer claims.

A board member who blamed the Irish Greyhound Board’s ongoing woes on political interference and reckless decision-making has resigned as a director.