THE ownership of Irish racing’s media rights appeared to be the most contentious issue as the Horse Racing Ireland moved through the Dáil this week. Debated during two Dáil sessions this week, the Bill met with general approval from all parties and looks assured of a smooth passage into law in the coming weeks. However, the Turf Club is still pressing for changes to the proposed legislation and the Minister for Agriculture has agreed to hear their concerns.

The aim of the HRI Bill is to strengthen governance and transparency within the administration of racing. In practical terms this will see a reduction in the Turf Club’s influence on the board of Horse Racing Ireland and they will no longer handle licence registration payments.

During this week’s debate Minister Coveney repeatedly claimed that “the independent role [of the Turf Club] is protected in the Bill,” but this view was challenged by his Fine Gael colleague Tony Lawlor and Labour TD Willie Penrose.

The Minister responded: “I am going to meet the Turf Club and discuss the concerns it still has in respect of the legislation. Where it makes sense to do so, we will show some flexibility.”

Asked yesterday for a comment, the Turf Club issued a statement to say “The concerns of the Turf Club and the INHS Committee were well aired before the Joint Oireachtas Committee last year. Our main concerns revolve around having to consult on the Rules of Racing even though we are solely and independently responsible for making the rules, monies being routed through HRI and our incomes being taken into account. The INHS Committee are totally opposed to point-to points being included in legislation. We also have a number of other concerns and these have already been outlined in writing to the Minister. We are looking forward to discussing all these issues when we meet with the Minister.”

Representing the Laois/Westmeath constituency which includes Kilbeggan Racecourse, Penrose was very vocal on the issue of media rights. The Bill proposes to increase the membership of the media rights committee to five and permits non-members of the Board to be members of the committee. Although a racecourse representative will continue to chair this committee there are fears that smaller racecourses will lose out in future media deals.

“This effectively gives HRI the right to secure all income generated from the sale of media rights,” Penrose claimed. “Those rights are owned by the racecourses.” He said that the smaller country tracks rely on media income to replace declining admissions revenue and it would be wrong if HRI could “grab” this money and “then decide how much to give to the racecourses”.

Others to speak on the Bill included Deputies Martin Heydon, Andrew Doyle, Lucinda Creighton, Denis Naughten, Joe Carey, Arthur Spring, Bernard Durkan and Jack Wall. Summing up, the Minister said he would be introducing “a couple of amendments at Committee Stage and, if people have sensible amendments, I will take them on board.”

Fianna Fáil TD John Browne said his party would support the Bill’s passage through the House. The Committee Stage hearing is scheduled for December 9th.

TIMELINE OF HORSE

RACING IRELAND

BILL

  • 2012: Minister commissions Indecon Report to review industry administrative structure
  • 2013: Smith & Williamson Consultants identify ‘streamlining’ savings of €1.8 million
  • 2014: HRI Bill goes through pre-legislative scrutiny. Stable staff representative reinstated to the HRI Board and Turf Club concerns aired.
  • 2015: HRI Bill is approved by Cabinet, goes through Dáil and will be at Committee Stage next month.
  • 2016: HRI Bill expected to be signed into law before the next general election.