Mattie McGrath: Calls to Prohibit Sulky Road Racing without Permission

I suppose maybe the title might be a bit misleading or whatever, the prohibition of saltgearation 2018, as you know, I introduced this bill back in 2018, a similar piece of legislation, in an effort to bring together different communities, you know, the horse is a wonderful animal, and I'm glad to see everybody, General Kinney here, because I know he's an interest in this, these projects as well, and I want to say at the outset, as a bookologue, by a young man, I've worked with a horse, on the farm, through the water, and we've covered the spuds and whatever, so I do like horses, and we in Tipperary have a wonderful record of the horse racing industry, and indeed, you know, of all different types, in the flats, and Joe jumping, and indeed with great prowess, and great engagement, I also want to say that I have been engaged with, I was involved in the Traveller Belltop Wagon, a wonderful project that I was involved in when I was in the VEC, and got here like of the, of the Adult Education Board, a fabulous project, so I'm interested in working with all peoples, and none, and try and have a safe situation for saltgearation, and saltgear trotting, to take place, and indeed, I know in my own area, quite a parish next door to me, Baldy Bacon, I know a good few gentlemen there, who have their pony, and little saltgear, and do pleasure runs, but it's a racing on public roads, and where no licence is granted, it's what I'm trying to, um, to avoid, and try and, and work with people to see, and I, and I thank the people that contacted me today, many of them, uh, from all over the country, who have saltgears, and sent me the most splendid photographs, and evidence of their saltgear, of their ponies, and their, their, their, their trailers, or the cats, or whatever they want to call them, and have engaged, and I'm anxious to meet me, even tomorrow, um, if, to see if we could work together, I believe in the Nathalie Coral de Caillor, and, you know, it's no point having division, have, have, have engagement, and, and I, I have approached Hoss Racing Ireland, and I have approached, you know, the, the, the different, uh, tracks, some of them, to see if there could be a shared usage of facilities, and have this board carried on safely, and, uh, well, well authorised, please, and maybe charities could, could benefit from, from, from it. I also want to salute, um, uh, Jonathan Erwin, of the Jack and Jill fame, you might most know, but, he was very involved, and I was involved with him, and held a seminar in, and Deputy Kinney was at as well, a seminar in, in the AV room, some years ago, about, uh, the prisoner horse project, in, in, in the, in the prison, in, in, in, in the West, Castleree, and I spoke to Jonathan today, and thankfully, the 10 stables are finished under one roof, but, because of COVID, hasn't been, uh, engaging yet, so I look forward to that project being rolled out, and, uh, helping people to, you know, continue their love of their animals, and their friendship, and, you know, as you know, the animals can be very therapeutic for people, and we see that with dogs, and everything, as regards, you know, people with autism, or whatever, and some, we, we know things now, we didn't know before. So, look, just, that's just as a forward, the bill has one simple aim, and this is, is to prohibit sulky road racing, where, and I emphasise where, and I emphasise where, no lawful permission has been granted. The primary motivation behind the bill is to address the, uh, growing, uh, health and safety, and welfare concerns for, uh, the, the public, to, uh, but also for the horses, and, uh, young passengers concerned a lot of times. Uh, the bill does not impact upon off-road sulky racing, in any shape-maker form. Sulky road racing, in which children as young as 10, uh, hitch, uh, hitch horses or ponies, to lightweight cats, and race them, uh, down busy motorways, or, indeed, national primary roads, or, indeed, primary, or, um, tertiary roads, is an extremely dangerous activity. The activity is also brutal, cruel to the health and welfare of the animals concerned, and I know that from people contacting me, but I know it from the vits who have been called to the scene, and it's their evidence I'm going on, and not mine. I'm not expert in, in, in, in, in a horse, you know, the body parts, and, and, especially, the, the, the legs, um, and I wouldn't be qualified to deal with that. As I said, um, the horses are often raised, as I said, uh, for far too young an age, uh, to be ridden, and that is the problem. And, and the, the, the, the gentleman I spoke to today said, yes, they acknowledge that there's rogue elements in it, and it's, uh, not, it's not, um, it's, it's not right. And, uh, the, you know, a higher risk of torn ligaments, broken bones, or other serious injuries. They rarely have, uh, have proper, uh, shoes or, or, or tack. And their riders usually have, uh, no permits, only in insurance. Meaning that any horses, um, wounded during the races are likely to be killed on site. And, you know what, there is legislation where the horses are to be, have, have to be, have to have it, uh, be microchipped, and have to be, you know, have a license and permit and everything else. But, look, that's another issue. Um, for that matter, there are usually, um, moving vehicles on the same row at the same time as the sulky races, putting motorists, pedestrians, and sulky riders, and the animals themselves, uh, in grave danger. And that's the worry. Uh, in fact, yet again, recent footage, a copy of which I, uh, attached today, of a race involving two trotting ponies drawing sulky's, has, um, shocked a lot of the Irish public. Uh, the tragic case, which led to the death in February 16, in Tandalkan of a young boy, just 12, when he was thrown under a truck after being involved in a sulky accident, has been a motivating factor for me in bringing this, uh, bill before the house. In fact, that room by Sean's own family have, uh, said that they hope stronger regulations can prevent future loss. And that's very magnanimous of them. Thus, the bill, um, essentially seeks to address some of the, uh, deficiencies in the existing law. You know, currently is almost exclusively a matter for local authority bylaws to address this issue. This is creating, uh, to a complete lack of consistent approach. And for example, uh, counties, my own county, Dipperdorn, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford, all have different bylaws. And I had an interesting engagement today, uh, with, uh, the, uh, see, the Minister of State, uh, from Kilkenny, um, the green man, today, he, who, when he was in the council in, his name will just elude me, when he was in the council in Kilkenny, they made huge efforts to get this off track, off road onto tracks, and nearly got it over the line. But unfortunately, it fell out of the last, the final furlong on the last fence, which is a pity. And indeed, I, I thank him for his, his, his, sharing his experience with me. So, look, local authority, uh, bylaws have proven completely insufficient to sufficiently address the issue, uh, with this bill, uh, aiming to implement a more, um, holistic, national, and cohesive approach to regulations for the area. That's what I want. I'm not a kiddie. I'm not anti-sport or anti-horse, but health and safety is a primary, primary reason. The main elements of the bill include, uh, section one of the bill set out to, uh, the remit of, uh, or meaning of the sulky racing under the bill to be the racing of horses, drawn vehicles on any road under local authority jurisdiction. Section two of the bill, uh, provides that the person shall, shall not organise or cause or permit to take place any, uh, performance involving, a, sulky racing, b, uh, riding or attempting to ride an animal, which by the use of any appliance, uh, uh, or any appliance or horse. A horse around carriage is or has been, uh, has been stimulated with the intention of making it a race or indeed see any other activity that may cause unnecessary suffering to an animal and is prohibited by animal health and welfare regulations. And that's very important. And I'd like to thank, uh, uh, uh, farmer here, Hannah, or, uh, Reena Donnell in my office, uh, our office for helping with this. And indeed David Mullins for helping me draft this bill as well. Section three of the bill, uh, sets out that responsibilities for local authorities. The bill, uh, grants local authorities all the powers necessary to enforce the law. Uh, section a car of the bill, uh, provides that, uh, offenses are penalties under, uh, under, uh, under for non-compliance, those found in breach of the law could face, could I say, a potential maximum fine up to and including 5,000 euro or a term of imprisonment not exceeding six months. Section five of the bill outlines the administrative steps, uh, to be followed around proceedings and, and, and sanctions, including the provision of fixed penalties. Therefore, it is hope that you will, uh, you know, my colleagues will be reminded to supporting this, uh, legislation, uh, which ultimately aims to find a national formula to address this serious ongoing issue before any other fatalities on the tragedy occurs. And I look forward to constructive debates and, uh, that's my motivation. And indeed I sincerely hope that people will, and I'm not saying this bill is perfect or I don't like it, it's an effort to be put in and I hope, I don't know what the government are doing on it, but whether they're opposing it, I won't accept it. And it's opened completely to be amended and changed and, uh, recreated as a, as a, as a proper, meaningful piece of legislation that will deal with this very concerning issue. Because there's not a day going by literally in the summertime, especially the, I don't, and wintertime, I get calls and my office get calls from all over the country, but certainly for Munster, uh, that there's, there are incidents of, I have incidents of, you know, women going home for work or going to work and being forced off the, off the, off the road. And indeed the people I spoke to this evening from Galway about the racing, they are adamant that we walk together and to have these races permitted on a legal, uh, position occasionally and, you know, once or twice a month or whatever, and have no, uh, attending cars or vans driving videoing them. That's the thing here in danger altogether. There's a whole wave coming at you of maybe three or four sulkeys across the road and several cars and vans, uh, right behind them and pushing them on. And nobody in a road has anywhere to go. A woman, a pregnant woman come from work in Limerick, uh, some time ago, was forced off the road, upside down, a pregnant woman, uh, in a field. And that's not right. I have countless experiences of where cars have been damaged and, uh, the sulkeys in many cases haven't even stopped and kept going. And that's not fair to hard pressed taxpayers who are paid a tax and insurance and want to be on the road. And as I said, um, I've seen recently it taking place in the fog, a dangerous fog. I've seen it taking place in frosty weather where it couldn't be safe with slippery road. And, you know, we must just try and work together to try and find a form and solution. And indeed, as I said, I mentioned the horse project that I was involved in myself, the, sorry, the Baltop wagon project. And I also mentioned, uh, the, the, the, the horse project that's, that's going, taking place in the prison. And I salute the prison services. And I hope this Minister for Justice now continues to support it, uh, because that is very badly needed. And as I said, it's very therapeutic. But from the point of view of, of cruelty, uh, that it's, it has to be stamped out. I, with the animal rescues then who did tremendous work in Tipperary and all over the country. Uh, the Dacia, the, the, the, and Williamson, and indeed, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and the others. And the department officials were called out. And indeed, we have incidents every year quite close to me at home where the last number of horses are kept on land at Knocklofty. And there have been horrific experiences there. And that's not to do with the sulky raisin. They're, they're, they're wintered there. And it's just not right. It's, it's sad. And people are really hurt and they're very challenged by it. And indeed, I, I, I want to pay tribute to now retired, sorry, now deceased gardener, Sergeant Nilo Halland, who was a local community gardener. He had made gallant efforts to try and deal with this situation and try and deal with it. Because many people's properties have been trespassed as well by those horses. When they're hungry, you can't blame the horses. They haven't enough of fodder or feed. So the regulations need to be tightened up across the sector here, the pattern of agriculture, on garage economy and local authority. And in, in, in the UK, I understand that they have a dedicated police, um, uh, outfit to deal with it. Because it's so dangerous and it's so, so, and it could be enjoyed by many and all if it was off road and, uh, or occasionally on road with, with permits. And indeed in France, it's a very lucrative industry. And, and lots of, of, of, of, uh, money is made for the, for the coffers of the French, um, finance minister from the proceeds and the betting taxes and everything else. So it can be done. We must look at best practice throughout Europe. We must look at best practice, you know, internationally. And indeed the Hannes, um, I think that, uh, the deputy can you know, the Hannes, um, um, people, they have a difference set up and they're on tracks and they're organized. And I don't get any complaints about it or other deputies don't. I'm not saying I'm getting all the complaints, but it's, I'm getting a lot of them. So we can look at best international practice. We can try and have better regulations. But I am for the carrot and stick to try to bring the people with us and try and ensure that both, uh, in the first instance, uh, the, the, the, the, the riders, whether they be young and some of them are very, uh, quite young. And also the, the, the, the horses and above all the general public who are cycling, pedestrians, you know, with bogies, pushing bogies, are indeed running on the road or driving. We're all entitled to share the same space and we must share the same space at the best of our ability, but safety has to be paramount. And indeed injuries like this are, are, are, are, you know, are just quite horrific when we've seen them and the potential for more injuries and, and, and worse is still out there. So it's a, as I said, it's a, a, a humble effort on my part to try and address this serious issue. And I did, I look forward to, um, to hearing, uh, the views of the, and if you're the minister first, and indeed the other talk to Dolly that are interested in this as well, because as I said, we need to, we need to deal with this issue once and for all. And, um, and an effort to start enacting legislation to, to make it safer for everyone. And, uh, and, uh, people say to me and they're appalled, you know, and rightly so. And I'm appalled, but do you have to have a child in the care, restrained? And rightly so. You know, 20, 30 years ago was different, but there's the laws now. And then they see young children, literally hanging off these and they worry and they're fearful for someone to fall off them or whatever. And again, this time of year, winter, the days are so short. There's no, uh, normally never any, um, you know, um, fluorescent, fluorescent jackets or fluorescent lights at the back of them or whatever. So we must try and work it out and try and proceed together on this. And I'm willing to meet, uh, those representatives in the coming days and weeks and in the new year and try and work with them to have it a better, uh, to have it a better situation. are regulated or are more regulated, certainly, and have less chances for major incidents or accidents or even death. Go raibh maith agurse. Go heibh.