THE controversy over the reappointment of Brian Kavanagh as Horse Racing Ireland’s chief executive has been damaging for racing, says Senator Paul Daly.

Senator Daly is a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture which this week heard Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed explain his role in the process. The HRI chairman Joe Keeling and three other board members will shortly appear before the cross-party committee to answer further questions.

Addressing the committee the Minister said it was the board’s responsibility to appoint a chairman and he had merely given consent to the request he had received from the chairman that Kavanagh be reappointed. The controversy centres on whether the matter was adequately discussed in advance by the board, and whether Minister Creed and Paschal Donohoe, the Minister for Public Expenditure, gave the matter due consideration before approving the request.

Daly told The Irish Field: “I took the Minister’s response in good faith – he kept to his line that the sequencing of events may not have been ideal. He assumed the request from the chairman came from the board. It has since transpired that this may not have been the case.”

A racehorse owner and chairman of Kilbeggan Racecourse, the Fianna Fail senator has stronger links to the industry than any other Agriculture Committee member. “As a racing man I want to promote the sport and it is most unfortunate we have had three weeks of negative media coverage.” He said the issue had done “irreparable damage” to racing’s image, which was a worry leading into the October 10th Budget.

Like Senator Daly, Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny said he had no axe to grind with Kavanagh. “Everybody tells me he is probably the best man for the job, but the reality is that he has already served two terms and should have been barred for applying for it.

“There are two main issues here – the HRI board was not fully aware of the chairman’s bid to keep Brian Kavanagh in the job, and the two Ministers basically gave the green light for the appointment without giving it due consideration.

“We are talking about proper corporate governance here. It gives the impression to the public than horseracing is a little club where a nod and a wink and a word with the right people is more important. I would hope we were past that.”

HRI issued a statement following an extraordinary board meeting on Tuesday which said the board “expressed regret that this matter has become the subject of public concern.”

The board refuted suggestions that the chairman intentionally misled the relevant Government departments with regard to the CEO appointment process.

“Dating back to 2011 the then board mandated the then HRI chairman to advance outstanding matters regarding the resolution of the CEO’s contract and any related matters. This issue was transferred to the new chairman [Joe Keeling] on his succession to office in March 2013.

“The board confirmed that the chairman’s actions and intentions reflected its views regarding the CEO’s contract. It also recognised that a more collegiate approach would have improved the process, but were fully agreed that there was no intention to incorrectly inform the Minister or that the board’s views had been misrepresented.

“The board, having endorsed Mr Kavanagh’s appointment previously, confirmed today that it is satisfied that the best result for HRI and the industry has been achieved with the successful completion of the new CEO contract.”