Bord na gCon fallout findings ‘will be heeded’

THE far-reaching recommendations of the independent report into the serious divisions that blew up in Bord na gCon last January will be implemented in full, Sports Minister John O’Donoghue said yesterday.

The 70-page report by Tim Dalton, published yesterday, concludes that the sacking of chief executive Aidan Tynan last January lacked natural justice and is broadly critical of shortcomings in governance and doping control procedures.

Mr Dalton, the former secretary general of the Department of Justice, makes sweeping recommendations for reform of the greyhound authority, which has expanded rapidly during the controversial 10-year term of chairman Paschal Taggart.

In a key finding, Mr Dalton concludes that the letter sent in January this year by Mr Tynan to the minister — alerting him to the suppression of publication of two positive doping tests — was not the sole reason for his dismissal.

The report finds that the “core problem” was a total breakdown in relations between Mr Tynan and the board between October 2005 and January this year.

However, Mr Dalton qualifies this by saying the January letter was not irrelevant to Mr Tynan’s dismissal — it brought relations to a new low, he said. The subsequent sacking “lacked the basic requirement of natural justice”, he concludes.

Mr Dalton is also critical of the decision of the board’s control committee, headed by Mr Taggart, to suppress publication of two positive EPO findings, one involving a greyhound trained by Paul Hennessy, Ireland’s most successful trainer.

Mr Dalton criticises the relatively high number of severance packages and redundancies — 15 in 10 years — that have cost Bord na gCon €1.1 million.

“The arrangement whereby the board can, without departmental sanction, enter deals in these cases which include confidentiality clauses should be examined, given that the effect of such clauses is to deny the minister, on behalf of the taxpayer any say or any information on individual settlement terms.”

The board’s relatively frequent recourse to litigation should also be reviewed, Mr Dalton’s report finds.

In all there are 21 recommendations, including a 10-year cap for the term of the chairman; the setting-up of a control committee independent of the board; mandatory publishing of positive tests; and the need to classify steroids as a prohibited substance.

Mr O’Donoghue yesterday described the report as excellent. On Mr Taggart’s decision to resign as chair this Friday, he praised the “energy and vision which he displayed as chairman of Bord na gCon over the past 10 years”.

Mr Tynan, in his submissions to Mr Dalton, had contended that his dismissal could be partly attributed to his questioning of certain financial transactions that occurred prior his appointment, mainly concerning the refurbishment of Shelbourne Park Stadium. Mr Dalton said these matters were outside his terms of reference but has forwarded details to the department.