RISING insurance costs and the need to improve anti-doping measures were among the issues cited by Horse Racing Ireland [HRI] in a letter to the Minister of Agriculture last September which called for an increase in the Government grant to the semi-state body.

HRI received €72.8 million from the Department for 2023, an increase of 2.3% on the previous year.

Details of HRI’s correspondence with the Department on funding became known this week following a Freedom of Information request from journalist Ken Foxe.

HRI originally refused to release the records, saying they were exempt based on the confidentiality of records intended for Cabinet meetings. However, following an appeal to the Information Commissioner, the semi-state body was ordered to release them under Freedom of Information laws.

The letter from HRI chairman Nicky Hartery to the Minister claimed that the racing industry needed extra support due to factors such as Brexit and inflation. Hartery said Brexit had caused “considerable logistical and financial issues” that had created extra costs, more paperwork, and much greater planning around bringing horses between Ireland and Britain. HRI wanted to broaden its marketplace because of the “ongoing certainty” over the UK’s relationship with the EU and the rest of the world.

Insurance

Hartery also warned that insurance had become a major issue with challenges in getting policies in the first place. The letter said: “Whilst HRI has stepped in to provide financial support in the short term, it is not sustainable to cover off this impact longer term.”

The impact of rising prices for fuel, feed, supplies as well as “significant wage pressures” could not be underestimated and needed to be factored into funding plans for the horse racing sector, HRI said. The racing authority asked for between €500,000 and €1 million to cover investment in veterinary and equine forensic units to tackle doping in the sport.

The letter said: “The integrity of our industry is dependent on closing out these issues, ensuring we can demonstrate that best in class integrity is sustained going forward.”

HRI said it needed additional funding to modernise “large, complex, and aging” computer infrastructure. They said this would ensure systems were robust and help them continue to “stay ahead of cyber security risk”.

Hartery also called for an increase in the taxes that apply to gambling firms. He wrote: “The rate of taxation on betting in Ireland remains amongst the lowest in the world and there is scope to further increase the yield to the Exchequer from betting duty funds.”

In a second letter to Minister McConalogue last September, Hartery explained how the industry had been further hit by a wave of inflation from the war in Ukraine. He wrote: “Many of our key stakeholders are trying to recover from the impact of Covid-19 and are now facing into a future of hyperinflationary cost increases across all their key goods and services, coupled with a potentially significant fall in consumer sentiment.”

Mr Hartery warned there was a real concern some would not survive and that ownership levels were very likely to be hit. His letter said point-to-point racing had been particularly hard hit with sky-high insurance costs and rising bills for transport and maintenance. Racecourses were also likely to see reduced attendances at the same time as costs were rising, he said, including a 50% hike in their energy costs.