Gardaí have opened an investigation into suspected fraud at three greyhound racing stadiums after the public body in charge of the industry suffered a loss exceeding €60,000.
The inquiry centres on the Greyhound Racing Ireland racetracks at Limerick and Mullingar, it is understood, and a third as yet unnamed location. The sum of money involved is between €60,000 and €70,000, according to person with knowledge of the case.
Rásaíocht Con Éireann, also known as Greyhound Racing Ireland, is the commercial semi-State company responsible for the control and development of the industry.
“Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ) is unable to comment on particulars relating to the matters raised in your first query, as they are the subject of an ongoing Garda investigation,” the company said in reply to questions.
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At a hearing of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday, Comptroller and Auditor General Séamus McCarthy said the case “involves cash handling in the stadiums” but declined to provide further detail.
“An investigation by an independent third party of the circumstances surrounding the losses was ongoing when I signed off on the financial statements at the end of June,” McCarthy told TDs, referring to the 2025 Rásaíocht Con Éireann annual report, which was submitted in recent days to the Dáil.
The report provided little information on the case but stated that three instances of “suspected fraud” had been “identified by management” before a third party was engaged to conduct an investigation.
The greyhound body is under the political responsibility of Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon.
Asked about the case, Heydon’s department said Rásaíocht Con Éireann signalled in the first quarter of 2026 “that it was aware of suspected fraud at three greyhound stadiums and that it had engaged the services of an independent body to conduct an initial investigation” and report back.
“The matter has now been passed to An Garda Síochána and it is expected that the Garda investigation will take a number of months to complete,” the Department of Agriculture said.
There was no Garda comment. Rásaíocht Con Éireann declined to identify the stadiums in question or provide any further information on the case.
The stadium at Limerick was formerly run by a Rásaíocht Con Éireann subsidiary, Limerick Greyhound Racing Track, which was dissolved in 2024 after the State company restructured its operations in 2019.
Rásaíocht Con Éireann is a 51 per cent shareholder in Mullingar Greyhound Racing Company. Donald Bell, chairman of the Mullingar company, said he had no information on the matter: “As far as I’m aware, it is the subject of a Garda investigation and under the circumstances I won’t be making any further comment.”
In a separate development, set out in the annual report, Rásaíocht Con Éireann said it acquired the greyhound stadium at Youghal, Co Cork, last year at a total cost of €1.05 million.
The expenditure included €730,000 for a legal settlement paid to the former owners of the property under the terms of a 1948 lease on the Youghal site and €97,000 in legal fees in connection with the settlement.
“The additional outlay for the freehold of Youghal Greyhound Stadium was €220,000, which was within market valuation and reflects appropriate value to the organisation,” the State company said.
The 1948 lease required Rásaíocht Con Éireann to pay the reinstatement cost of returning the stadium in Youghal to “greenfield” condition at the end of the arrangement. The lease was terminated in 2022, three years before the State company bought the freehold on the site.
Although Rásaíocht Con Éireann paid the reinstatement costs to the former landlords, no reinstatement work was carried out. “Since 1948, significant development has taken place on the property, including the construction of the racetrack, buildings and car parks,” said the Department of Agriculture.
The department said the company applied to Heydon and Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers for “approval to proceed with the purchase of the freehold of Youghal Greyhound Stadium, which was granted in July 2025”.
