I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
This Bill proposes to amend the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, which was enacted in July last and which provided for a significant restructuring of the way the horseracing industry is organised and funded. The Act provided, among other things, for the establishment of a new body – Horse Racing Ireland, HRI, to replace the Irish Horseracing Authority and to take over certain functions from the Racing Regulatory Body.
Since the legislation was passed it has been widely welcomed across all sectors of the industry. There is recognition that the new and unified structure and the security of the substantial funding that the Act gives to Irish racing will position it well for the future. However, one problem has arisen in relation to the detailed provisions of paragraph 16 of the schedule to the Act relating to the composition of the board of HRI.
Under the Act, the Racing Regulatory Body has five seats on the board of Horse Racing Ireland and the racecourses, racehorse owners, trainers, breeders, bookmakers, employees and the sector in Northern Ireland have one seat each. This composition was decided on to reflect fair representation for all major sectors in the industry which depend on horseracing for their livelihoods. The substantive change in the structure of and funding for Irish racing in the Act is to give the industry direct responsibility to guide and promote the development of its own business.
While under the Act I have arranged for broad ranging representation on a sectoral basis my vision is for a cohesive board rising above all sectoral interests and operating exclusively for the common good and the long-term interest of the whole industry.
I have already appointed an interim board to Horse Racing Ireland. The board has applied itself with enthusiasm to carrying out the work that needs to be completed before the formal establishment of HRI including the selection and appointment of a chief executive for the new body. I intend to formalise the establishment of HRI under an establishment day order as soon as all the necessary preparatory work has been completed.
A very strong case was made to me before, during and since the enactment of the legislation that, to achieve the objective of giving the industry control over its own business, the people appointed to the board should, as far as possible, be those engaged at the coal face of the industry. For this reason when it came to appointing the employees' representative, I was anxious to provide an opportunity for representation for those who work directly with horses and who make a major contribution to the sector.
The Irish Congress of Trade Unions, ICTU, has been the nominating body for the representative of persons employed in the horseracing industry on the board of the Irish Horseracing Authority since its establishment in 1994 and I acknowledge that their nominee has served the industry very well over the years. However, I was anxious this time, especially in light of widespread representations made to me, to give an opportunity to the other employees who are not affiliated to that organisation to serve on the board. After some informal consultation with the industry and taking account of the objectives of the legislation, I decided on this occasion to appoint a representative from the Stable Staffs Association. The stable staff are among the lowest paid employees in the sector and often work in difficult conditions. They had not previously been represented on any of the decision making fora in Irish racing and given their important and essential, although often forgotten, role in this business, I believed the time was right to give them such representation now.
I have since received strong representations from ICTU, MANDATE and SIPTU that a nominee of theirs should have been appointed to represent the persons employed in the industry on the basis that they represent the majority of employees in the sector. They have indicated that they are prepared to take legal action in pursuit of their case on this issue.
It was not ever my intention to overlook the employees represented by those two unions and ICTU. The appointment of the representative of the Stable Staffs Association to the board of HRI was not considered to be a permanent arrangement. The Act, in paragraph 16 of the schedule, provides for rotation of board members. From the outset, three members will retire each year. The legislation does not require me to regard the same persons or organisations to be representative of the various industry interests and to be the nominating bodies on each occasion on which I have to make an appointment. It was my intention that when the person to represent the employees in the industry came to be re-nominated this would be done in consultation with ICTU. Other employee groups who are not members of unions affiliated to ICTU but, nonetheless, do important jobs in the industry should be given reasonable opportunity to be represented on HRI from time to time.
The case made by the unions for immediate representation on the board of HRI is compelling. MANDATE and SIPTU represent many administrative, technical, official and professional staff directly employed in the horseracing industry. Their work is fundamental to the success that Irish racing has achieved in recent years. I pay tribute again to their representative on the IHA who has served with dedication and has made a tremendous contribution to the work of the board. In consideration of this, and as a reflection of the value this Government places on partnership with unions, I wish to accede to their request.
I remain strongly of the view that there should be a place on the board for key people like the stable staff. They make a unique contribution to the horseracing industry. We entrust them with our highly valuable racehorses, and in those circumstances, we should give them a well deserved say in the future of Irish racing. I am satisfied the sector will be better off for it.
To resolve this problem, I propose to regard ICTU as the nominating body for the persons employed in the industry. I propose to amend the 2001 Act by increasing the number of board members by one. This will allow a representative of those employed directly in the horseracing industry – on this occasion the Stable Staffs Association – to be appointed to the board also and I propose that this should be done by direct ministerial appointment.
I take this opportunity to make one or two other minor technical changes. As it stands, the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, provides for the appointment of a board consisting of a chairman and 12 ordinary members.
The Bill now before the House essentially proposes to amend the Horse and Greyhound Rac ing Act, 2001, so as to increase the number of ordinary members of the board of Horse Racing Ireland from 12 to 13 with the additional member to be appointed by the Minister. There are some other minor technical amendments.
As the establishment day order for HRI has not yet been made, it is necessary to give effect to these changes, to replace paragraph 16 of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, in its entirety. That paragraph contained all the amendments in the 2001 Act to the original schedule of the Irish Horseracing Industry Act, 1994. This Bill proposes to re-state those amendments with provision this time for an extra board member and some further associated changes. However, most of the provisions of the schedule to the 1994 Act as amended by paragraph 16 of the 2001 Act remain unchanged.
Following are the provisions of the Bill; section 1 (1) (a) increases the number of ordinary members of HRI from 12 to 13.
The main changes consequential on the increase in board membership which this Bill proposes are contained in subparagraphs (1) (c) (d) and (e) of a new paragraph 7 for the 1994 schedule to be inserted by section 1 (1) (b) of this Bill.
Subparagraph (1) (c) of the new paragraph 7 removes the nomination of the union's representative from the requirement that such nominee had to be elected in similar fashion to the other industry interests. The new provision will allow a nominee to be selected using a consultative process within ICTU involving all of the unions, with employees in this sector, affiliated to the congress rather than an electoral one.
Subparagraph (1) (d) of the new paragraph 7 provides for the direct appointment by the Minister of one person from persons employed directly in the horseracing industry, thereby allowing employees such as stable staff, who play a key role in the industry, to be represented on HRI.
Subparagraph (1) (e) of the new paragraph 7 also removes the nomination of the representative of horseracing in Northern Ireland from the election requirement as such an election process may not be conveniently feasible and provides that such member of HRI will be appointed directly by the Minister after consultation with horseracing interests in Northern Ireland.
Section 1 (1) (c) sets out the terms of office of the chairman and the ordinary members of HRI and the rotation arrangements all of which remain unchanged from the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001.
Section 1 (1) (d) concerns a technicality relating to filling a vacancy on the board of HRI and is unchanged from the provision in the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001. Section 1(2) repeals paragraph 16 of the schedule to the Act of 2001. Section 1(3) provides that subsection (1) shall come into operation on the same establishment day as provided for in the 2001 Act so that the provisions of that Act relating to the estab lishment of HRI and this Bill will come into effect at the same time.
Section 1(4) provides a definition. Section 2 provides a short title for this Bill when enacted. I commend this Bill to the House.