Horse Racing Ireland Act 2016

1. Definitions

1. In this Act—

“Act of 1994” means Irish Horseracing Industry Act 1994;

“Act of 1999” means Horse and Greyhound Racing (Betting Charges and Levies) Act 1999;

“Act of 2001” means Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001;

“HRI” means Horse Racing Ireland;

“Minister” means Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine;

“Racing Regulatory Body” has the same meaning as in section 2(1) (as amended by section 2) of the Act of 1994.

2. Amendment of definitions in section 2 of Act of 1994

2. Section 2(1) of the Act of 1994 is amended by—

(a) inserting before the definition of “betting office” the following:

“ ‘betting intermediary’ means a person who, in the course of business, provides facilities that enable persons to make bets with persons (other than the first-mentioned person);”,

(b) substituting for the definition of “integrity services” the following:

“ ‘integrity services’ means those services operated by or on behalf of the Racing Regulatory Body for the purposes of enforcing discipline and ensuring that horses are run fairly and properly;

‘jockeys’ and ‘qualified riders’ have the same meaning as in the Rules of Racing;”,

(c) substituting for the definition of “Racing Regulatory Body” the following:

“ ‘Racing Regulatory Body’ means—

(a) the Irish Turf Club, in relation to flat racing,

(b) the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee, in relation to national hunt racing, including point-to-point steeplechases, or

(c) both, in relation to horseracing generally,

and includes any limited company formed under the Companies Act 2014 by such body for the purpose of carrying out its functions under this Act;”,

and

(d) substituting for the definition of “Rules of Racing” the following:

“ ‘Rules of Racing’ means, in relation to—

(a) flat racing, the Rules of Racing as laid down by the Irish Turf Club,

(b) national hunt racing, the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Rules as laid down by the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee, and

(c) point-to-point steeplechases, the regulations for Point-to-Point Steeplechases issued by the Stewards of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee;”.

3. Increase of summary fine - Act of 1994

3. Section 6 of the Act of 1994 is amended—

(a) in subsection (4), by substituting for paragraph (a) the following:

“(a) on summary conviction, to a class A fine, or”,

and

(b) by deleting subsection (5).

4. Membership of HRI

4. (1) The following is substituted for the Schedule (as amended by the Horse Racing Ireland (Membership) Act 2001) to the Act of 1994:

“SCHEDULE

Section 9

Horse Racing Ireland

(2) In determining the remuneration or allowances for expenses to be paid to its chairman, HRI shall have regard to Government or nationally agreed guidelines which are for the time being extant or to Government policy concerning remuneration and conditions of employment which is so extant, and, in addition to the foregoing, HRI shall comply with any direction regarding such remuneration, allowances, terms or conditions which the Minister may give from time to time to HRI with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

(a) 3 shall be nominees of the Racing Regulatory Body,

(b) one shall be nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of authorised racecourses,

(c) one shall be nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of racehorse breeders,

(d) one shall be nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of racehorse owners,

(e) one shall be nominated for appointment thereto by such persons as the Minister considers to be representative of racehorse trainers,

(f) 2 shall be nominated for appointment thereto by the industry services committee—

(i) one of whom shall be the chairman of the committee, and

(ii) one of whom shall be a representative of stable staff,

(g) one shall be nominated for appointment thereto by the betting industry being the chairman of the betting committee, and

(h) 3 shall be chosen by the Minister for their specific skill and competencies and one of whom, at least, shall be representative of the horseracing industry in Northern Ireland.

(2) Subject to subparagraphs (3) and (4), persons nominated under subparagraph (1)(a) to (e) shall be elected at a general meeting of—

(a) in the case of a person nominated under subparagraph (1)(a), the Racing Regulatory Body, or

(b) in the case of a person nominated under subparagraph (1)(b) to (e), the interest concerned,

specially convened for that purpose, upon adequate notice being given of the meeting by the Racing Regulatory Body or the interest concerned, as the case may be.

(3) In the event of a dispute in respect of any aspect of the method of election to be carried out under subparagraph (2), the Minister shall decide the method.

(4) The Minister may, as he or she considers appropriate, decide on or approve alternative arrangements for the election of persons to be nominated under subparagraph (1) (a) to (e) to those specified in subparagraph (2) where the need arises.

(5) Where the Racing Regulatory Body or any persons referred to in subparagraph (1)(b) to (e) fail to make a nomination by such date as the Minister may require for nominations under subparagraph (1)(a) to (e) to be given to him or her, the Minister may appoint such person, in the absence of the nomination, as he or she decides.

(6) Nominations under subparagraph (1)(a) to (g) and appointments under subparagraph (1)(h) shall, in so far as is practicable and having regard to relevant experience, create an equitable balance between men and women.

(2) Subject to this paragraph, the term of office of an ordinary member of HRI shall be 4 years.

(3) A member of HRI shall not serve in any capacity for more than 2 consecutive terms.

(2) A person appointed to be a member of HRI by virtue of this paragraph shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy he or she is appointed to fill and shall be eligible for re-appointment as a member of HRI.

(a) is adjudged bankrupt or is sentenced by a court of competent jurisdiction to a term of imprisonment,

(b) commits an offence under this Act,

(c) is disqualified from holding any licence, permit or authorisation granted under this Act, or

(d) is the subject of an exclusion notice under section 62.

(a) the chairman shall, if present, be the chairman of the meeting, and

(b) if and so long as the chairman is not present or if the office of chairman is vacant, the members of HRI who are present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting.

(2) On the commencement of this section:

(a) 2 members of HRI representing the Racing Regulatory Body, who were such members immediately upon such commencement, shall cease to be members of HRI and the Minister shall be informed of their names by the Racing Regulatory Body. If the Racing Regulatory Body fails to so inform the Minister within 21 days of the commencement of this section, the Minister shall remove 2 members representing the Racing Regulatory Body at the Minister’s discretion;

(b) the members of HRI who were nominated by—

(i) authorised bookmakers, and

(ii) persons employed in the horseracing industry,

who were such members immediately upon such commencement shall continue to be members of HRI for 3 months from such commencement following which the chairman of the industry services committee and chairman of the betting committee shall replace those members. If the industry services committee or the betting committee fail to elect a chairman within that period of time, the Minister shall appoint a person to HRI to act for such interests until such time as a chairman is elected.

5. Amendment of general functions of HRI

5. (1) The following section is substituted for section 10 of the Act of 1994:

“10. (1) The general functions of HRI are—

(a) to provide for the overall administration, governance, development and promotion of the Irish horseracing industry, other than the functions of the Racing Regulatory Body set out in section 39(1), including promoting and increasing attendance at authorised racecourses;

(b) to provide a single structure for the administration and financial management of Irish horseracing.

(2) The general functions of HRI include:

(a) the processing of—

(i) all charges, including the collection of licence fees for licences to be issued, and financial sanctions imposed, by the Racing Regulatory Body, imposed on participants in the horseracing industry, other than charges in respect of certifying of hunter certificates and the acceptance of horseracing entries and declarations for point-to-point steeplechases (which shall be paid to the organisers of the point-to-point steeplechases), and

(ii) payments to participants in the horseracing industry;

(b) the provision of registry office services including the following activities—

(i) naming of horses, the issuing of horseracing passports and registration of matters relating to racehorses, including the registration of hunter certificates,

(ii) horserace entries and declarations (other than point-to-point steeplechases),

(iii) racing calendar publication,

(iv) stakeholding of race entry funds and prize money for horseraces, and

(v) registration of racehorse owners including racing colours;

(c) the management of the development and promotion of the Irish horseracing industry (including the development of authorised racecourses, the guaranteeing of the costs of integrity services and prize money);

(d) the promotion of the Irish thoroughbred horse;

(e) representing Irish horseracing internationally in respect of its functions;

(f) the provision of financial and other support, at its discretion, to—

(i) maintain and improve the health and welfare status of the thoroughbred horse, and

(ii) assist educational and other institutions and organisations in providing improved training and education facilities and courses for the thoroughbred horse industry to satisfy the training and educational needs of that industry at all levels;

(g) the provision, at its discretion, of financial support for point-to- point steeplechases;

(h) the making, at its discretion, of grants, loans or other disbursements to authorised racecourses;

(i) the allocation of race-fixtures and the setting of race-programmes (other than point-to-point steeplechases);

(j) the negotiation, in consultation with executives of authorised racecourses, of all income from media rights (within the meaning of section 10(1) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001);

(k) the control of the operations of on-course authorised bookmakers;

(l) the provision, maintenance to a specification agreed by HRI with the Racing Regulatory Body, and operation of mobile track equipment, including starting stalls, photo finish and camera patrol equipment and any other such equipment agreed from time to time between HRI and the Racing Regulatory Body and the provision to the Racing Regulatory Body of photographs, films, sound recordings and other connected materials or data generated by such equipment as required by the Racing Regulatory Body for its examination and use in the enforcement of the Rules of Racing;

(m) the operation of racecourses which are owned or leased by HRI;

(n) the management of any subsidiary of HRI;

(o) the performance of any functions of the Racing Regulatory Body which may be transferred to HRI in the future by agreement of both parties and subject to the consent of the Minister.

(3) HRI shall have all such powers as are necessary for or incidental to the performance of its functions under this Part and Part IV, including the power to issue directives setting protocols and procedures to carry out its functions under subsections (1) and (2). Any such directives, protocols or procedures shall be published by HRI.

(4) HRI shall provide such information in relation to the activities mentioned in subsection (2)(a), (b), (c), (i), (k) and (l) to the Racing Regulatory Body as is necessary for the Racing Regulatory Body to fulfil its statutory functions.

(5) HRI shall consult with the Racing Regulatory Body before issuing any directive. HRI may dispense with such consultation where it considers there is an urgency to make the directive and shall inform the Racing Regulatory Body accordingly.”.

(2) The following are repealed:

(a) section 10A of the Act of 1994;

(b) section 2 of the Act of 1999;

(c) section 8 of the Act of 2001.

6. Committees of HRI

6. (1) The following section is substituted for section 19 of the Act of 1994:

“Race-fixtures committee