Mr. John Osborne:

I am representing Horse Racing Ireland, HRI, and Suzanne Eade, who, as members know, appears before this committee in a few weeks' time. I thank the committee for this opportunity to update it on the progress we have made since we met last July.

HRI is a commercial State body under the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Our mission is to administer, promote and develop horse racing and breeding on the island of Ireland. HRI manages many elements of horse racing day-to-day, such as registration of horses, race planning and programming, entries and declarations, prize money and owner accounts. We assist in the provision of certain specialist services to racing, for example, the modernisation of starting stalls procedures and world-leading photo-finish equipment and personnel are niche areas of excellence in what we do. We have also set about improving the racing infrastructure through a capital investment programme which has seen great improvements in racecourse facilities for spectators, workers and horses.

At our foundation in 2001, the role of an independent regulator was specifically called out and the IHRB fulfils that role. We have a good working relationship with the IHRB and its officers, who set and enforce the rules of racing. Both HRI and IHRB work to an annual budget determined, as with all budgetary matters, through an annual allocation from which all our responsibilities are accounted for.

We are here today principally to focus on the findings of this committee from its deliberations last year and to report to it on our progress with implementation of those recommendations. We are satisfied that progress has been made on all fronts. The recently published Suann report on anti-doping was reassuring, stating how our standards match or surpass the best practices worldwide, and we are always seeking to improve upon that strong position. This conclusion broadly matched the positive endorsement that this committee’s report conveyed in November 2021.

In regard to the specific findings of the committee, much of it will be covered by my colleagues in the IHRB. One area which attracted much comment last year was the provision of CCTV cameras in stable yards and the committee’s recommendation that it be expedited. If I may focus on this for a moment, it is fair to point out that this objective will be delivered on as soon as is possible. The delivery has been slower than originally anticipated. We have control systems on all our expenditure. The complexity of the specification was partly due to each stable yard across 25 different racecourses being very different. The procurement process was competitive and robust. These controls are important. We have a contractor in place, work has commenced and it will be completed by the end of the year. This project demonstrates how we work collaboratively with racecourses and the regulator to achieve our mutual objective of world-leading horse racing with the highest standards of integrity.

We do not stand still, particularly in the context of the high reputation our racing enjoys. The integrity of the racing results, which impacts directly on the value of our racehorses, their care and well-being, and also the value of our betting product, is reliant on trust.