Results 20,781-20,800 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I ask the Chair to excuse me for a minute or two.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I am not in favour of giving a particular representative organisation rights where other representative organisations have an equal interest. I think it should be up to the board of HRI to ensure the right balance of interests and expertise is represented on the committee. If we were to say that a representative of owners has to be on the committee, someone might say we should ensure...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: To be honest, I would be surprised if there was not a representative of racehorse owners on the board. I think that if we use this legislation to require the owners to have priority status on the board without requiring others to have the same status, it will provide an imbalance. We have to trust that HRI, as the broad representative body it will be, will make sensible decisions and will...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: If I may correct myself, this is the betting committee, not the media rights committee, that we are talking about.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I think I have confused things a little bit. This is media rights committee, not betting committee. Is that right?

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: The points the Deputy is making are relevant to this.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: The only issue under discussion which is relevant to what Deputy Penrose has been saying is whether we prescribe in legislation to require HRI to put someone from the racehorse owners association onto the media rights committee or whether we trust HRI as a board to be able to put a balanced committee of five people together. That is the only issue. The view I have taken so far has been that...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: We talk about HRI like it is some group in its ivory tower that is not interested in the broader interests of the sector. This is probably the most representative board or group of any sector or industry in the country bar none. It is prescribed in legislation that it has to be that way. Of a board of 14 people, the Minister appoints only three. They are probably better qualified to make...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I did not say it was inconceivable. I said I would be surprised if it did not.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: A number of different sectors will have a claim to media rights - I am sure Deputy Penrose will refer to racecourse owners - such as racehorse owners, jockeys and trainers, who have a deep knowledge of how to use the product they are training. Ultimately, HRI has a responsibility to put a structure in place that can negotiate the best possible deal for the racing industry for media rights....

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 33:In page 13, to delete line 31. This has been a contentious issue that we are trying to deal with. It concerns deals regarding media rights. In recent years the collective, rather than the individual parts, of the racing industry has become far more valuable. The Irish racing industry is a powerful negotiating tool in terms of the media because of the standard and...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: 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, which we interpret to be the representative body, that is, AIR. That is about as a good a compromise as we can make.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 34:In page 13, to delete lines 32 to 35 and substitute the following:“(b) by inserting after subsection (4) the following:“(4A) 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.”,and (c) by...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 35:In page 15, line 8, to delete “(following consultation with HRI)”. Consultation with HRI is provided for in subsection (3) of the section and does not need to be included here.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 37:In page 15, line 10, to delete “, in accordance with paragraph (c), adequate on-course” and substitute “adequate”. The purpose of the amendment is to clarify that integrity services may be on or off-course. It is something the Turf Club, or the racing regulatory body as it is referred to in the legislation, is anxious to have in place.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 39:In page 15, line 12, to delete “those services” and substitute “on-course integrity services”.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 40:In page 15, to delete lines 24 and 25 and substitute the following:“(x) stewards’ secretaries, (xi) veterinary assistants, and (xii) senior racing officials,”. The amendment extends the racing regulatory body's control functions at authorised racecourses to senior racing officials and is made at the request of the racing regulatory body.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: It is necessary for the sake of clarity to retain the wording. The racing regulatory body will not be able to issue licences without the payment having been made. As such, it is only reasonable that it should be clear in the legislation. One cannot issue a licence if there is no payment for it.

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: This was never raised with me by the racing regulatory body. It is perfectly reasonable to have licensing for trainers, jockeys, valets and so on. However, one cannot licence them unless they pay. The collection mechanism for that is an entirely separate issue. None of the current income streams of the Turf Club is changing, it is just the collection mechanism and the efficiency around it...

Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)

Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 44:In page 16, to delete lines 3 to 5 and substitute the following:“(i) to maintain the existing nature of point-to-point steeplechases including making and enforcing the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Regulations for point-to-point steeplechase as made by the Stewards of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee).”.”. We have debated this...