The Supreme Court has found the greyhound body, Bord na gCon, breached EU rules in the manner in which a tender for its tote services was awarded in 2003.
A UK-based company, Advanced Totes Ltd, had appealed to the Supreme Court against a High Court decision of December 2004 which found that Bord na gCon was not in breach of EU procurement rules when it awarded the tender for its tote services to Autotote Worldwide Service Ltd.
In the Supreme Court, Ms Justice Catherine McGuinness, giving the court's judgment, ruled the High Court had erred in deciding that the tender procedure did not seem to breach the principle of transparency.
Advanced Totes Ltd was one of four firms that applied for the contract to run Bord na gCon's tote services when it was advertised in May 2003. In September, Autotote got the contract.