Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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1071. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the new agreement of Horse Racing Ireland with a group (details supplied) includes an agreement for Irish participation in specific race meetings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11421/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) is a commercial state body established under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, and is responsible for the overall administration, promotion and development of the horse racing industry.

The question raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for HRI and I have requested my officials to refer the question to them for direct reply.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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1072. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if the new agreement of Horse Racing Ireland with a group (details supplied) includes an agreement for domestic or non-domestic advertising rights; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11422/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) is a commercial state body established under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, and is responsible for the overall administration, promotion and development of the horse racing industry.

The question raised by the Deputy is an operational matter for HRI and I have requested my officials to refer the question to them for direct reply.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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1073. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the competitive concerns that preclude the reporting of remuneration at Horse Racing Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11423/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) is a commercial state body established under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, and is responsible for the overall administration, promotion and development of the horse racing industry.

Under the 2016 Code of Governance provisions, State Bodies should publish details of the number of employees whose total employee benefits for the reporting period fell within each pay band of €10,000 from €60,000 upwards and an overall figure for each employer pension contributions in their annual report and /or financial statements.

HRI applied to this Department for a derogation of the requirement to include staff benefits tables for their subsidiaries within the group financial statements.

Following this request, my Department considered that, as HRI is a commercial state body, it is acceptable for more detailed data on employee pay bands to be included in the Chairperson’s report to the Minister in lieu of its inclusion in the annual report and financial statements given its commercial sensitivity. This commercial sensitivity is in relation to the competitive racecourse sector. Data protection is also an issue, with the possibility of identifying particular benefits relating to particular staff due to limited numbers of individuals in any given band.

Neasa Hourigan (Dublin Central, Green Party)
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1074. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the governance rules of the board of Horse Racing Ireland relating to board members serving more than two four-year terms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11424/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) is a commercial state body established under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, and is responsible for the overall administration, promotion and development of the horse racing industry.

The Horse Racing Ireland Act 2016 (Section 4) is the current legislation setting out the structure of the board of HRI. The board consists of a Chairman and 13 ordinary members. Under this legislation, each ordinary member’s term of office is four years with a maximum of two consecutive terms.