Watchdog urged to probe Horse Racing Ireland accounts
A spending watchdog was today urged to probe the accounts of Horse Racing Ireland over claims spending is out of control.
The Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) said the amount of money spent by the governing body mushroomed in 10 years without any obvious benefit to the racing and betting sectors.
It claimed HRI expenditure jumped by 40% more than its total income between 1998 and 2008, while the chief executive’s salary increased by more than a half in six years.
Sharon Byrne, IBA chair, demanded a value-for-money investigation by the Dáil Public Accounts Committee and claimed HRI must wake up to the economic realities facing the country.
“The inaction, complacency and dependency on state funding that characterise the HRI are no longer acceptable from a state body with so many potential income-generating sources available,” Ms Byrne said.
“The IBA believes that all spending must deliver real and tangible benefits for Ireland’s racing and betting sector, and that common sense reforms are urgently needed.”
The IBA commissioned accountancy firm KPMG to go through the annual reports of HRI and its predecessor the Irish Horseracing Authority between 1998 and 2008.
The investigation found administration costs, including pension and payroll, rocketed €5.6m, or 660% in the decade.
HRI‘S spending on marketing jumped €2.1m, or 112%, yet attendance at race meetings had only increased 14% by 2008.
The IBA said the salary of chief executive Brian Kavanagh increased by 56.6% in the 10 years and by 22% between 2007 and 2008.
Mr Kavanagh earned €313,000 in 2008, according to HRI’s annual report.
The Bookmakers said HRI Racecourses Group’s operating costs increased by 216% between 1998 and 2008 and 73% between 2005 and 2008.
And the IBA claimed contributions to prize money soared 600% yet the number of race fixtures increased by a third.
Ms Byrne said excessive prize monies for the top tier of races needed to be spread out to provide more racing opportunities for the smaller trainers and race schedules need to be reformed.
And she said the race track in Dundalk should not be closed for the winter.
The IBA said a Freedom of Information request to HRI for access to accounts, budgets and business plans at the organisation were refused.
In a statement Mr Kavanagh said the IBA’s position either misunderstands or misrepresents the way in which the administration of Irish racing has changed since 1998.
He said as the IBA are talking about both the HRI and the Irish Horseracing Authority the comparisons are “fundamentally flawed and misleading”.
“I completely reject the statement that HRI spending is ’out of control’,” Mr Kavanagh said.
“HRI is subject to annual audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General and at no time has its efficiency or effectiveness been called into question.
“Our administrative costs have reduced by 28% since 2008 and the number of permanent employees in the HRI group – which includes the Tote, four racecourses and Irish Thoroughbred Marketing – has been cut from 176 to 143 in the same period.”
Mr Kavanagh said HRI had not seen or been asked to contribute to the KPMG analysis and therefore could not comment in detail.
It said on prize money HRI’s contributions to the total prize fund of 2.5 million euro for the top five flat races in Ireland this year was €20,000, with the balance funded entirely by owners and sponsors.
The chief executive said the organisation was not secretive or in breach of the Freedom of Information legislation.
Mr Kavanagh said IBA wanted thousands of documents dating back 12 years and the request was rejected because it “represented an unreasonable interference with the work of HRI, a rejection which is allowed for in the FOI legislation”.
HRI said the study was a smokescreen to deflect attention from the declining tax contribution from betting to the exchequer, despite rapid and sustained growth.
