Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak to amendment No. 31 as all of the others are linked to it. As I indicated on Committee Stage, I was not convinced that the wording of this provision reflected the new arrangements. The racing regulatory body in the form of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee will continue to provide the integrity services for point-to-point races and the hunt clubs will continue to organise and run meetings, while Horse Racing Ireland, HRI, will continue to support point-to-point financially. We had a long discussion on this and both Deputy Ferris and Deputy Penrose were very interested in it.

I wish to emphasise again on the floor of the House that we are not changing point-to-point racing in Ireland. The races are still being run by local hunt clubs. The role of local hunt clubs remains the same. The national steeplechase committee still provides the administration. The only thing that is changing is that we are following the advice we got from independent reports on streamlining services to provide better value for money. We are ensuring that when hunters are registered, the registration payment goes through a central office run by HRI and that money goes back into the turf club or steeplechase committee automatically. We have protections to make sure the money is paid without undue delay. Everything else in respect of point-to-point racing remains as it is today. It works very well. Point-to-point racing in Ireland is vibrant with many volunteers and we do not want to upset that or change the way it operates. We do want to respond to the recommendations on streamlining and are trying to ensure that we have one portal through which payments come in and go out. We can get efficiencies through that new process, which is one of the purposes of the Bill.

We had a long debate on this on Committee Stage and it was also discussed at a pre-legislative stage. I have also had discussions both on and off the record with a number of Deputies to try to reassure them on this. Following our conversation on Committee Stage, amendment No. 31 proposes to delete "to maintain the existing nature of point-to-point steeplechases" and to insert "to administer and control the integrity of point-to-point steeplechases". We are being more definitive in terms of the role of the National Hunt Steeplechase Committee and the local turf clubs, for the avoidance of any concern or doubt.

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