Victor Boyhan Urges Welfare and Governance Reforms in Racing Fund
Victor Boyhan spoke in support of the Fund Minister while urging stronger emphasis on welfare and governance in the horse industry. He highlighted the Department's annual letters of parameters, suggested potential funding adjustments for Horse Sports Ireland, and asked for a summary of a departmental review requested by the Public Accounts Committee.
Opening remarks
Victor Boyhan welcomed the minister and acknowledged the local racing tradition in the county that has Punterstown, Nace and the Curragh. He made clear his support for the Fund Minister and said he would not repeat points already on the Oireachtas record from the previous night's debate.
Funding parameters and welfare emphasis
He stressed the importance of the Department's annual letter of parameters, saying those letters set funding parameters and should continue to include detailed requirements. He called for a stronger emphasis on welfare in future letters and funding decisions, arguing this is essential for public confidence in the industry.
Horse Sports Ireland and funding questions
Boyhan noted that Horse Sports Ireland does not currently come into this fund and suggested the fund might need to be reviewed or tweaked, possibly via legislation, to allow set-aside funding for HSI. He described HSI as an important part of the equestrian world and raised concerns that regulation around it is weak, while stopping short of criticising the organisation.
Recognition of industry bodies and personnel
He commended the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board and its 2024-2027 strategy, thanked the board and management at Horse Sports Ireland, and specifically thanked Ms Susan Eade for her work leading Horse Racing Ireland. He said these bodies are making progress and deserve recognition.
Request for review transparency and next steps
Referencing a departmental submission and internal review made at the request of the Public Accounts Committee, Boyhan urged that an executive summary or summary of recommendations be made available when possible. He asked the minister to keep an open mind, to emphasise welfare and governance in the department's letter, and pledged his full support moving forward.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Thank you very much. I want to welcome the Minister here. What a better man knows about racing than himself, I'm sure, in the county that has Punterstown, Nace and the Curragh, all of which I have attended on many, many occasions. I want to say at the very outset I support the Fund Minister. We've had a long debate, a reasonable debate last night. You touched on a number of the issues, so I'm not going to repeat them again here today. They're on the record of the Oireachtas. I suppose just to say that I think what's really important, and not everyone may know here, but the Department do issue a letter of parameters every year in relation to the funding. We discussed that last night at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture. What I would say, Minister, I think it's important that the detail in those letters are continued, because I think they do set down the parameters, as you said to us last night, and I think we need greater emphasis on welfare. We have seen, and I think for those who aren't necessarily directly involved, Horse Sports Ireland doesn't come into this funding, and you explained all of that well last night. But I do think we've had a lot of damaging publicity around the horse industry, and I like to talk about it in its broadest sense. So we have Horse Sports Ireland that do amazing work. We have, of course, the IHRB, the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board, and of course we have the Horse Racing Ireland. So, look, I commend our work. I think we need, perhaps, in time to look at this whole fund again, to see if we can include and make a case again. I think there should be some money set aside that we could take from this fund. It may need new changes, may need to be tweaked through legislation, but Horse Sport Ireland is a very, very important part of the equestrian world, and the regulation around that is weak. That's not a criticism of HSI, but there may need to be additional funding for it. And, of course, we have the international equestrian team with great things going on in the equestrian world generally, in eventing and cross-country, etc., etc. So, when we talk about the Irish Sport Horse, the racehorse, has brought us, people outside the industry see it all as being collectively won. But it is an amazing thing that we can be so proud of in Ireland. I know that you're a champion of it, and, of course, you come from one of the greatest horse counties in the country, Kildare, and represent them well. So, Minister, I want to acknowledge the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board and the work that they do. Their strategy is, of course, until 2024 to 2027. We keep a track on it. I certainly do. And they're making great progress. And I want to thank their board. I want to take this opportunity to thank Ms Susan Eade, who heads up Horse Racing Ireland and the work that she does. It's really important. And, indeed, the management at Horse Sports Ireland. But I would make that ask that in the future we might look at that. One thing I want to reference, you mentioned in your presentation last night again today that, following a request from the Public Accounts Committee, your department submission and internal report, a review. Clearly, there's around governance and the fund. Clearly, there may be issues that we're not privy to now, and we don't need to be privy at this point. There's a process in place. It is in the hands of the Public Accounts Committee. But I think, when possible, we should either have a summary or an executive summary of that report and see if there are learnings from that. Oh, not necessarily learnings, but new recommendations. So I would say, Minister, keep an open mind on it. Put a strong emphasis in your letter or your department's letter on the parameters in relation to the emphasis on welfare and governance. We must. It's a huge amount of money, regardless of what anyone thinks. And the governance side, again, you said this last night to the committee, the governance side of this is critically important. Because this industry will only survive if people have confidence in it and it has international integrity. So we have to compete with the international stage. So I want to wish you well, and you will have my full support in relation
Thank you for downloading 🙏
If you publish this material on social media, we would be very grateful if you tagged VideoParliament. It helps us reach more people and keep building a transparent archive of Irish politics.
