First Irish test taken last Sunday

The first anti-doping test under the Irish Sports Council's new programme was carried out on Sunday, according to the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Dr Jim McDaid, who did not identify who was tested.

Dr McDaid launched the Council's anti-doping programme last week and said in the Dail yesterday that testing would be focused on "priority sports" in the coming months, and "carded athletes and competitors bound for Sydney will be given immediate priority in the testing programme".

The Minister failed, however, to give a definitive answer about who would have responsibility in the event of legal challenges to sanctions imposed on athletes.

Pressed repeatedly by Fine Gael's sports spokesman, Bernard Allen, the Minister said: "It is a very complicated legal matter. We are currently monitoring the situation concerning nandrolone in the UK and elsewhere which has been referred to the international federation."

He said he would clarify the matter at a later stage if he was not correct. "The Sports Council will decide whether a person has been guilty of taking drugs. That decisions will then be sent to the national governing body," Dr McDaid said. "Last year and this year, national governing bodies have been asked to change their constitutions to take account of imposing sanctions on those found guilty of taking drugs."

He also said he believed that blood testing would "ultimately" be introduced, although recently "hair follicle testing has been found to be even more beneficial". McDaid said that "from a hair follicle it can be determined whether drugs have been taken in the past five years".

However, the Minister pointed out that amending legislation would be available by the end of the year for the Misuse of Drugs Act to include certain drugs used for sports performance enhancement.

He had supplied the Minister for Health with a list of drugs he wanted included on the Schedule of the Misuse of Drugs Act.