Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 7 March 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Systems, Governance and Procedures in Horse Racing Ireland: Discussion

4:00 pm

Mr. Brian Kavanagh:

In our response to the last query, we outlined the legal cases we are involved in at the moment. There are three cases ongoing that HRI are involved with. We are not involved in the Dundalk case. That is between the bookmakers and Dundalk. We do not own any of the ordinary share capital of Dundalk. We have a preference shareholding in Dundalk and we have the right to appoint three directors. We would love to see that case brought to a conclusion. It was heard in the Court of Appeal last week or the week before because Dundalk appealed the decision of the High Court. A judgment on that is expected in the next four to six weeks. The two other cases we are directly involved in are some small cases on the foal levy. They are District Court and Circuit Court cases and involve debt collection of relatively small amounts. There is an ongoing legal case involving Leopardstown racecourse and one of its tenants who operates a leisure centre and gym which has been in the courts for some time. It was heard in the Supreme Court in January and a judgment on it is expected before the end of June. Other than standard insurance claims as a result of falls, trips and accidents at racecourses, there is nothing else.