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.
HRI has informed me of the following:
- Ambulances and personnel from the National Ambulance Service are not in attendance at racemeetings and Point-to-Point meetings in Ireland.
- Ambulance providers are all from the voluntary sector, with the Order of Malta being their main provider (the Irish Red Cross cover one racecourse, and the Civil Defence cover two racecourses).
- HRI are in communication with their ambulance providers in order to ensure they have sufficient provision to provide cover without taking from any Covid-19 related duties.
- To ensure the highest level of safety for riders, each fixture is serviced by three ambulances and the appropriate crew numbers which, as a rule, is a driver and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) on each ambulance.
- Pre-COVID-19, the volunteer ambulance service provided cover at many sport events, concerts and festivals and therefore have a large capacity to service many events. For the last 12 months, horseracing has essentially been the Order of Malta’s only event cover and has been a crucial source of funding for the organisation. The daily rate for ambulances at racemeetings is met 50/50 by the racecourses and Horse Racing Ireland.
- The Order of Malta receives an annual grant from HRI.
