Hard Questions to be asked as Horse Racing Ireland and Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board to appear before Public Accounts Committee
Press Release, June 14th, 2024
Waterford T.D., Marc Ó Cathasaigh has said that next week’s Public Accounts Committee hearing with Horse Racing Ireland is vitally important, following the Primetime Investigates programme on the Irish and European horse industries.
Speaking today Ó Cathasaigh said “The programme by the RTE Primetime Investigates team was exceptional investigative journalism and highlighted disturbing and distressing scenes of animal cruelty. I welcome Minister McConalogue’s commitment that his department and An Garda Síochána will investigate the perpetrators of this violence and apply the laws against animal cruelty fully. The cruel behaviour towards such beautiful animals is abhorrent.”
He went on “The RTE Primetime programme clearly demonstrated that identities of horses are being laundered and until this is addressed, the integrity of the human food chain in Europe will continue to be compromised. There is evidence that certain animals should have been removed from the food chain. I welcome the fact that the food fraud division at the EU Commission has now issued the alerts for horses slaughtered in Ireland, Italy and Spain.”
Marc Ó Cathasaigh said “Next week’s appearance by Horse Racing Ireland before the Public Accounts Committee is timely and vitally important, given that they have developed the identity systems required for traceability. Hard questions need to be asked. I am concerned that Horse Racing Ireland are questioning the findings of the RTE investigative team.”
“They will be appearing alongside the Horseracing Ireland Regulatory Board whose appearance last June was somewhat overshadowed by the RTE PAC sessions. Within minutes of that session, a matter of “grave concern” was raised by the IHRB which prompted them to carry out a full review by Mazaars.
I note that IHRB have published their Annual Report this week which includes a disclosure that €350,000 was transferred from the Jockeys’ Emergency Fund, a charity bank account under the control of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, to the Board’s bank account, in January 2022 and then repaid by the Board to the charity account in April 2022, and that this is what gave rise to the concern regarding financial governance in 2023.“
