Last week, this column pointed out that in 2002 the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) spent

$5 million on research and development while it also spent a further $3.3 million on out-of-competition testing. So how much does Ireland spend on its anti-doping measures and how many tests are carried out each year?

According to the Irish Sports Council, 2001 saw €650,000 spent on anti-doping, €350,000 of which went on out-of-competition testing.

The following year, 2002, saw a 46 per cent increase in anti-doping spending with €950,000 of the ISC's €28 million budget going towards anti-doping measures in Irish sport - €500,000 of which was spent on drug testing.

The cost for a single dope test is €600 out-of-competition and €400 in-competition with the areas of sample collection, transport and testing accounting for the majority of the drug-testing budget.

But, with the emergence of new designer drugs such as THG, anti-doping costs are expected to rise year-on-year as new anti-doping measures are having to become more sophisticated to try to keep pace with the doping industry.

The question is though: will upwards of

€1 million per year be enough to keep the drug cheats out of Irish sport?