Greyhound board has proven track record

REGARDING the letter from Mr Mullins (Feb 4) on the management and operation of Bord na gCon, there are a number of clear facts that Mr Mullins has overlooked.

Since 2007 the money available to greyhound racing through the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund has declined by 20%. Overall revenues, including from betting, which provide a large portion of income, are down by a punishing 48% due to the tough economic conditions that presently exist for discretionary spending.

Against this difficult background, Bord na gCon has acted aggressively in cutting our operational cost base by 29% or €5.9 million. However, during this extensive difficult period we maintained prize money at record levels for three years and only in 2010 have we had to reduce our contribution to prize money from an average per race of €358 in 2009 to €283 in 2010.