Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 6 November 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Governance Issues: Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (Resumed)

5:30 pm

Mr. Darragh O'Loughlin:

Yes. An individual was involved. I will not discuss any individual here, notwithstanding the privilege. Regarding why there was a round of redundancies, it was not just a cost-cutting exercise, but is about efficiency. It is not just about whether we have the right number of people but whether we have the right people in the right jobs for where we are today and where we want to go in the future. As an organisation, we continually have to evaluate what our resources are, who we have, what the skills base we have is, whether we have enough skills in the areas where we are very active, and if we are overpopulated in areas where we are not so active. I was not there at the time, but I understand this was not about cost-cutting as much as efficiency.

It was not to reduce the overall headcount. It was to make sure we were recruiting and retaining people with the skills that were needed at the time in the organisation and giving people whose skills might have been superfluous the opportunity to leave on good terms.