The head of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) has insisted that a large transfer it received from a charity – which he previously described as “a bombshell” and a matter “of grave concern” – was an “isolated incident”.
In January 2022, the board’s bank account received a transfer of €350,000 from a charity, the Jockeys Emergency Fund. It was repaid after three months. Details of the transfer came to light last year.
CEO Darragh O’Loughlin told Public Accounts Committee that, once the transfer was discovered, the board hired Mazars to conduct “an independent review of this and other financial governance matters”, and who are due to submit a final report “shortly”.
The consultancy firm began its “detailed scrutiny” of financial and other records spanning six years last August.
Mr O’Loughlin said that the report “will be published and the recommendations will be acted on”.
“Pending receipt of the Mazars report, the auditors examined banking transactions for the financial year 2022, which confirmed that the highlighted transfer of €350,000 was an isolated incident,” he said.
The Jockeys Emergency Fund is a registered charity which provides support to jockeys who are injured and suffer paralysis.
When Mr O’Loughlin last spoke to the committee a year ago, he flagged the “hitherto unknown issue”, of which he had just become aware, describing it as “a bombshell” and a matter “of grave concern”.
In his opening statement today, Mr O’Loughlin said that on 28 June 2023, he became aware of “an issue relating to financial governance” which occurred early in 2022.
“The issue concerned a transfer of €350,000 which was made in January 2022 from the Jockeys Emergency Fund, a charity bank account administered by the IHRB, to the IHRB’s bank account.”
The transaction was “reversed in April 2022,” he added.
To ensure such a transfer cannot happen again, he noted that “formal agreements are being put in place between IHRB and the various charitable and non-profit entities for which administrative support is provided”.
In his opening remarks, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) noted that concerns first arose in June 2023 over the transaction, and that a review is still under way when he compiled his audit in April.
Mr O’Loughlin said that the IHRB Chief Financial Officer remains on leave and is unavailable.
PAC chair Brian Stanley said that there was no show from the CFO 12 months ago – and there is no show again today.
Mr O’Loughlin said that the CFO is “on pay” but cannot give details of the nature of the leave as that is personal information.
Mr Stanley said that this is “very unsatisfactory”.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy asked what controls were in place when the €350,000 transfer was made.
Mr O’Loughlin said that two signatures were required at that time “for any transaction to be processed through the bank”.
“We have tightened up on our financial controls. We’ve implemented transaction limits such as, that any payment must be signed-off by two members of senior management now, and – any payment above €25,000 – one of those must be the head of finance or myself as CEO.”
He said he could not comment on why the money was transferred as he was conscious that the Mazars report has yet to be published.
“I share your frustration,” he told Ms Murphy.
HRI ‘appalled’ by RTÉ equine abattoir revelations
Horse Racing Ireland said it was “deeply disgusted and appalled” about the abuse of horses which was uncovered by RTÉ Investigates.
The organisation’s chief executive said: “The behaviour depicted was abhorrent and is absolutely not the experience of those working directly in the Irish horse racing and breeding industry.”
Speaking at the Public Accounts Committee, Suzanne Eade added that she welcomed the “swift response” from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
“We will fully support any garda and Department of Agriculture investigation, and we eagerly await their conclusion,” she said.
“The topic of traceability was also covered in the RTÉ Investigates programme, and meaningful progress has been made over the last number of years,” Ms Eade added.
Fine Gael TD Ciarán Cannon said that “all of us have been deeply disturbed” by the revelations and asked which agency is responsible for equine safety.
“Your role specifically is during the racing career of the animal. Once that concludes, IHRB has no further role in terms of equine welfare?” he asked Mr O’Loughlin, who agreed that that is what the legislation dictates.
John Osborne, head of the HRI Equine Welfare Department, said that: “Take the old slogan about, you know, a puppy is for life, not just for Christmas.
“In the horse situation, you know, the responsibility for care on the day-to-day basis is the owner’s responsibility.”
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Mr Cannon said that Mr Osborne appeared to be “trying to push this at arm’s length away” from the HRI, whereas he thought that welfare would be HRI’s responsibility.
Michael Sheahan of the Department of Agriculture was asked to clarify the matter and said that “ultimately” the department has “overall policy responsibility” for policy and oversight of animal welfare.
Mr Sheahan added that a person “can’t have had a conviction in the previous three years” if they want to run an abattoir.
However, Ms Murphy noted that there was “a previous conviction for animal welfare” uncovered in the RTÉ Investigates programme.
“It may have raised the flag. But as I understand this, it wouldn’t legally” prevent someone operating a facility, Mr Sheahan said.
“Was the department not on high alert?” Mr Stanley asked.
“If you were to ask me even three weeks ago, what were standards like within the slaughter plant … I would say standards were very good,” Mr Sheahan said.
“It’s a plant that operates one day a week. We have a veterinary presence and technical officers present on the day when slaughter happens.”
“So just, just to clarify, so just for the avoidance of any doubt, I watched the programme… It was one of the most sickening things I’ve ever seen.”
“What was shown on the program did not happen within the slaughter plant,” he said. “For some people that’s a technicality, but it’s an important point.”
“The footage that was shown, the horrific footage that was shown, happened on the farm, beside the plant,” he added.
Mr Sheahan said that it is the slaughter plant which is under the department’s supervision, not the farm.
“What happens next door was terrible. Without the excellent work done by RTÉ, to be honest, we would not have known that this was happening.”
The Department of Agriculture received “five complaints over the recent years about horses on the farm next door” to the slaughter plant, according to Mr Sheahan.
“We sent out an experienced vet out” to investigate all those complaints which were “typically along the lines, that there were a thin horse or a lame horse”.
“We did not come across anything that merited serving a welfare notice or serving a prosecution or anything like that,” he said.