Sir, - I refer to the letter by Padraic O’Neill in your publication dated July 11th, in relation to the Foal Levy and I am pleased to read his acknowledgement that the Foal Levy is needed.

The Foal Levy is a statutory levy introduced in 2000 to support the infrastructure of the Irish thoroughbred industry. It has achieved that objective and continues to do so with a compliance rate in excess of 98%.

The funding which has been allocated to the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (ITBA) during the past 15 years has allowed us to work for the greater good of Irish breeders. I agree that this work is at times difficult to quantify: it may, at times, be out of the public eye or involved in advocating on policy issues which are complex and long range.

Our Council is democratically elected with representatives from all regions of the country and is made up of large and small breeders from both flat and National Hunt.

Most of our events and activities are open to all thoroughbred breeders, whether or not they are ITBA members.

We welcome input and in recent years we have had a series of open road shows to engage with breeders throughout the country. This process was a catalyst for the changes to the Levy bands in 2012 – we responded to breeders’ concerns and worked with the Foal Levy Committee to make the bands more equitable and transparent.

The ITBA is not perfect and, because of the diverse constituency it represents, it cannot please all of the people all of the time, but it is inclusive and it is tireless in its efforts to work in the best interests of Irish thoroughbred breeding.

It frustrates me sometimes when I hear that the ITBA is not fully representative of the industry and is not doing enough for the small breeder. Reading the letter last week I could not help but notice in the same edition articles headed ‘International breeders descend on Ireland’, ‘Strangles alert in North Leinster’ and ‘Steroids problem proves heavy workload for Drug Test Task Force’. I was rather proud that the ITBA is heavily involved in these three very serious topics on behalf of all breeders.

Recently we were the only thoroughbred body to appear in front of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture who are looking at the wider horse industry where policy can be optimised to further develop the sector as a whole. This was our second time to appear in front of the committee this year.

Other areas such as the Independent Review of Employment Regulation Orders, the Agri-Taxation Review, Renewal Energy Framework, VAT, the highly successful YITBA, and change in the legislation regarding the transport of pregnant mares, are areas where we have made a significant impact as the official representative body for breeders on a national and international stage. We are very proud of our efforts to support NH breeders through our NH Fillies Bonus Scheme and other initiatives.

While our members serve on Council and sub-committees without any financial compensation for their time, the wide-ranging work we do costs money and the Foal Levy is a valued source of funding for us.

Breeders may decide not to join the ITBA: that is their prerogative. Those who do not join still benefit from the work we do on an individual, local, national and an international basis. – Yours etc.,

SHANE O’DWYER

Manager

Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association

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