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

The core of the question we must answer here is whether we or the board of HRI are better placed to determine who are the people on the five-person committee to negotiate media rights on behalf of HRI. We spent a long time looking and taking recommendations on this issue. The board of HRI is very balanced and all of the stakeholders in the racing industry, including racehorse owners, are effectively represented on it. As a result, there is a balanced representation of the industry and the State on HRI. It decides who are the best five people to negotiate media rights. They can be members of the board or not in terms of whoever it chooses as the best team. They then come back to report to HRI. Section 6(3)(b) states that "a contract or arrangement referred to in subsection (1) shall not be made by the media rights committee without the agreement of the board of HRI and representatives of executives of authorised racecourses." There is a process here that is working and with which people are reasonably happy. Racehorse owners are not asking me to make this amendment.

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