John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 103: To ask the Minister for Agriculture and Food if she will respond to claims that certain leases involving the Punchestown racecourse lands are invalid and need to be replaced, and that as a result Departments and State agencies had no security when they gave over €28 million to the racecourse. [6982/05]

Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)
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The Punchestown lands are owned by the Kildare Hunt Club. A new organisational structure has been agreed under which a joint venture company made up of the Kildare Hunt Club and Horse Racing Ireland, HRI, has been incorporated. It is the intention that ownership of the Punchestown companies will transfer to the new company as soon as the question of the existence of any taxation liabilities of the Kildare Hunt Club to the Revenue Commissioners has been finalised. Conflicting legal advice has been received by the Kildare Hunt Club and HRI on the taxation liabilities. The Kildare Hunt Club advice was to the effect that the leases on which the potential tax liability might arise were in fact invalid. Based on this advice the hunt club has made a submission to the Revenue Commissioners and the restructuring and the transfer of assets to the joint venture company cannot be finalised until the outcome of this submission is known.

HRI, which provided funding to the Punchestown racecourse and the Department of Agriculture and Food which provided the funding for the event centre at Punchestown have received written assurances from the chairman of the Kildare Hunt Club that no changes will be attempted to be made to the existing lease arrangement without the interests of HRI and the Department of Agriculture and Food being fully protected. The chairman has been informed by my Department that it will hold him to this undertaking.