Results 2,021-2,040 of 7,024 for speaker:Willie Penrose
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: I move amendment No. 17:In page 9, line 11, to delete “issuing” and substitute “the certifying”.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: Yes. We have debated certification already but my amendment would put the issue beyond doubt. It would clarify and make sure that everybody understands their roles. On line 19, it states "including the registration of hunter certificates" which means the activity will now be given to the HRI which is part of the problem. Point-to-point steeplechase regulations stipulate that hunter...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: That is why one cannot have one without the other. That is why I was hoping the issuing and certification of the hunter certificates would be dealt with in the way I asked the Minister to deal with it. Perhaps the Minister would review the issue with a view to accommodating what we are trying to achieve. I think there is some misunderstanding of the roles. They are very finite and very...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: I accept the Minister is more than accommodating.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: Do not be too analytical on this. I might as well be honest with the Minister. The Minister is a racing person and he knows the issue inside out. I am afraid that some day, someone will be sitting on that seat and will be given back a parliamentary reply from this side, stating that the Bill was passed and one is left with a fait accompli and that is what worries me. I ask the Minister to...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: I know some of them.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: It does. I do not want to get into an argument with the Minister but it does. This clearly does. The HRI kicks over the issue. It will do the registration. That is a function gone from the local INHSC-----
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: I appeal to the Minister to use the word "certify".
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: I have referred to this on a number of occasions and do not want to bore everybody to death, including myself. We got into this argument previously. It might be a bit Jesuitical but it is important. This is extremely important for the local committees. I agree the services should exclude the issuing and registration of hunter certificates. Leaving the registration of hunter certificates...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: We are all happy with that.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: The Minister read through this section, spoke about advising the board and finalising the work on the race fixtures committee. While that is grand, I do not understand why the membership of the race fixtures committee should be limited to members of HRI. Section 19(3) of the 1994 Act reads, "The membership of the race fixtures committee referred to in paragraphs (b)to (d)of subsection...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: I know what the Chairman is saying.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: The Chair might give us a couple of minutes.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: This brings it back to owners and everything else. Owners buy the horses and pay the entry fees, the trainers' fees and the fees to HRI which first got my attention, and there was a flood of stuff into me about it, which is what got me angry with HRI. There are people with substantial expertise who are on the owners committee. I happen to have been an owner myself and was a member of the...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: We started that without finishing the other.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: I was about to light on that.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: I thank the Minister. This is a very important amendment. My worry is that the representative body of authorised racecourses includes some very powerful bodies, and the voices of smaller racecourses might be overcome. I hope that is not the position and that ordinary racecourses have their voices heard. It is important because property rights and legal issues are involved. If something is...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: My amendment No. 41 is part of what the Minister has already done.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: It is. More succinctly, I note that hunter registration has an important integrity role. That has been overlooked in the debate, although not purposely. It should continue to be done by the National Hunt committee. I appeal to the Minister to look at the issue with the parliamentary draftspeople. I accept that the money will be paid through the HRI at the end of the process and go back....
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Horse Racing Ireland Bill 2015: Committee Stage (9 Dec 2015)
Willie Penrose: Absolutely.