Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

It does and I am not referring solely to the big guns. I am also concerned about the relationship between HRI and the Turf Club and the fact that governance arrangements for the Turf Club are due to change under the Act passed last year. There is an interim period. I have no doubt that we will return to that issue.

My last point concerns the foal levy. I do not accept that HRI cannot talk about it because of a court case because nobody is asking its representatives to talk about it. I want to know how much money it spent in defending the indefensible. We have to be clear on the amont. Mr. Kavanagh said only a sum of €50 was involved and that it was not really an issue. What led to the court case was a sum of €150 for an owner awarded by the small claims court. We will call it a victory, one which was celebrated across the industry. People were delighted because of the discrepancy highlighted by other Deputies. HRI spent a significant amount of taxpayers' money in launching an appeal against that decision and then turned up in court with the biggest possible legal guns to block the case from being taken to the Supreme Court. I read the coverage in local newspapers. The case could have been taken with the approval of HRI and so on. It did not have to state anything but it spent a lot of money in trying to block the case. How much was spent in doing so? I do not accept the point that the foal levy system would be an administrative nightmare if the case was abandoned. It would not be. It is like everything else that people buy in shops. They do not pay VAT on the advertised price. If a person buys a can of Coke in a shop, he or she receives a receipt which shows the price actually paid which includes VAT. I do not know why the foal levy would not be included in the actual stud fee charged rather than an arbitrary figure orchestrated to protect larger players in the industry.

Horse Racing Ireland has spent and will continue to spend a great deal on the legal costs of those contesting that legal action. I would like to know how much has been spent on legal fees, when such a small amount of money is involved? That has alienated owners. I wonder how that impacts on the development of the industry and getting more owners into it given that 92% of people have fewer than five horses. It is only those with a few horses who suffer.