Penrose clashes with Ag Minister over role of local hunt clubs

A fundamental disagreement over the role of local hunt clubs lead to a Dáil clash between Longford-Westmeath Labour Deputy Willie Penrose and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney. Deputy Penrose said he wished to make it clear he was not “going to be a patsy” on an amendment to the Horse Racing Ireland Bill which was in the final stages of process through the Dáil.

“The Minister said before that his rationale for including point-to-point in legislation was to get transparency in view of the fact that the sport is supported with a €1.5 million fund annually,” he said. “Fair enough, we are fully with the Minister there. He is entitled to that. However, many other sports receive funding well in excess of €1.5 million - I can tell the Minister that - and there is no requirement for them to be included in legislation. They do not mandatorily have to register with a State body.”

On Committee Stage, Deputy Penrose said the Minister put forward an amendment to maintain the existing nature of point-to-point steeplechase and he explained that this was trying to reinforce that point, that this is a Committee which sets the regulations for the whole sector. “That is a perfectly acceptable amendment,” he said. “I was happy with that and indeed it was accepted by the INHS committee. Everybody was on board. However, the Bill before us today has further amended and delimited the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee’s (INHS) rights in this area, only allowing the Committee to administer and control integrity. That is all they are getting.”

“If I did not know the Minister I would say it was sleight of hand,” he said. “In one fell swoop he is taking away the right that the INHS Committees have had for well over 100 years to govern and administer the sport. There is a difference. I understand this. This matter is going to end up in the courts. It is taking away rights and there is no need to take them away. If the Minister had stuck to what said on Committee Stage, it would be game set and match to him.”

Following further debate Minister Coveney said he was happy to accept amendments and make changes when a valid case is made and there was a need to respond to it. “However, we have already made changes in this area to reassure people, but I am not going to continue to make change after change when the advice is that the Bill reflects the position we want to reach in terms of legal accuracy,” he said. “The legislation makes it clear that the position on point-to-point race meetings will not change.”