THE MINISTER FOR Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has rejected a request from the Public Accounts Committee to review the pro rata distribution of the Horse and Greyhound Fund, The 42 has learned.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said in January that they did not believe this method of distribution is appropriate, but the Minister says any review of it is a policy matter for the government.
The Horse and Greyhound Fund was established in 2001 as a means of sending exchequer funds to the horse and greyhound racing industries.
The Act under which it was enacted ring-fenced all proceeds from the national betting levy for these two sports, with the money to be divvied up under a pro-rata basis: 80% of the money is given to Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), with the remaining 20% given to Greyhound Racing Ireland (GRI). The Fund is overseen by the Minister of Agriculture, and more than €1.5 billion has been allocated to the Fund since its inception.
The PAC met with the HRI on 23 February 2021 and again on 22 September 2022 to examine the governing body’s financial accounts from 2019 and 2020, and subsequently issued a report making eight recommendations.
One of those recommendations was for the Minister of Agriculture to conduct a full review of the Horse and Greyhound Fund, which would include an examination of the social and economic impact of the Fund; whether the use of the Fund to subsidise prize funds represents best value for money; the efficacy of the Fund in ensuring the highest levels of animal welfare standards; and the appropriateness of pro rata distribution as a funding mechanism for both the horse racing and greyhound racing sectors.
The review will be completed by September of this year, but it will not include a review of the pro rata distribution to both sports.
In correspondence from the Department of Public Expenditure to members of the PAC, seen by The 42, it is explained the Agriculture minister rejected the latter point as he believes it is a policy issue for the government.
“The Minister for Public Expenditure . . . is further informed by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine that this point of the recommendation is rejected, as he considers this to be a policy matter for Government,” reads the letter. “The pro rata breakdown of the Horse and Greyhound Fund is required under The Horse and Greyhound Act 2001, Section 12.”
The PAC said in January it does not believe that this pro rata distribution is an appropriate funding mechanism for the two sports, writing in their report that “the Comptroller and Auditor General confirmed that he was unaware of any other circumstance where funds to two distinct organisations were distributed ‘as rigidly’ on a pro rata basis.”
Elsewhere, the Minister for Agriculture wrote that the social and economic impact of the fund is addressed in two separate documents: a 2023 HRI-commissioned report by Deloitte which reported horse racing supports more than 30,000 jobs and has a total annual expenditure to be €2.46 billion; and a 2021 report commissioned by the GRI and carried out by Jim Power into the Economic and Financial Significance of the Irish Greyhound Industry.
The remaining two points, the value in subsidising prize money and the efficacy in relation to animal welfare issues, will be reported upon by September.
The PAC found that up to 80% of Exchequer funding of HRI can be used towards prize money, and made a separate recommendation that the HRI’s next set of accounts should include a detailed breakdown of the distribution of prize money. The Minister of Agriculture says the HRI have accepted this recommendation and “the appropriate prize money distribution disclosures” will be included in the HRI’s Annual report for 2022 and all future years.
The HRI have accepted all other recommendations issued by the Public Accounts Committee, including a request that CCTV cameras are installed at all courses nationwide. This process has been completed.
A 2021 report commissioned by the Football Association of Ireland analysed the Horse and Greyhound Fund and called for a change to the allocation of the betting tax, arguing that their sport should benefit from the proportion of bets placed on football. This report was made public earlier this year, with the Minister for Agriculture calling the FAI’s approach “divisive.”
The Department of Sport subsequently issued a statement to say the betting tax proceeds have not been ring-fenced for the Horse and Greyhound Fund since 2009, contradicting what is stated in the Section 12 of the The Horse and Greyhound Act 2001, the same piece of legislation the Minister for Agriculture quoted in rejecting a review of the pro rata distribution of the Fund, as requested by the PAC.
Brendan Gleeson, the secretary general of the Department of Agriculture, told a meeting of the PAC on 4 May this year that the betting tax is not strictly ring-fenced for the Fund, but forms “part of the policy picture”.
“There’s a betting tax there, it’s in the mid 90 millions, that’s correct, it covers or close to matches the cost of this – it’s not a strict process of hypothecation [ring-fencing] but it’s part of the policy picture that supports the investment of these sectors.”
In response to a request for comment, the Department of Agriculture confirmed there are no plans to review the pro rata distribution of the Fund.
“The horse and greyhound racing industries receive financial support from the State through the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund, under Section 12 of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001 (the Fund). The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine makes payments from the Fund to two commercial State bodies, Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) and Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ) for the continued development of the horse and greyhound racing industries. The Fund is distributed in accordance with Section 12(6) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, with 80% going to HRI and 20% to RCÉ. There are no plans at present to review this.”
First published at 5.30pm on 6 July; Updated at 12.16 on 7 July with comment from the Department of Agriculture
