Sport

IBA call for spending watchdog to probe HRI accounts

RACING: A SPENDING watchdog was yesterday urged to probe the accounts of Horse Racing Ireland over claims spending is out of…

Tue Nov 09 2010 - 00:00

RACING:A SPENDING watchdog was yesterday 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 per cent 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.

“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,” Byrne said. “The IBA believes all spending must deliver real and tangible benefits for Ireland’s racing and betting sector.”

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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 by €5.6 million, or 660 per cent in the decade. HRI’s spending on marketing jumped €2.1 million, or 112 per cent, yet attendance at race meetings had only increased 14 per cent by 2008.

The IBA said the salary of chief executive Brian Kavanagh increased by 56.6 per cent in the 10 years and by 22 per cent between 2007 and 2008. Kavanagh earned €313,000 in 2008, according to HRI’s annual report.

“I completely reject the statement that HRI spending is ‘out of control’,” said Kavanagh in a statement yesterday. “The press release issued today by the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) either misunderstands or misrepresents the way in which the administration of Irish racing has changed since 1998.

“The IBA statement contains a series of financial and other comparisons covering the period 1998-2008 and presumably the 1998 figures are those of the Irish Horseracing Authority, as HRI was not established until 2001.

“It is effectively comparing figures across completely different organisations and thus the comparisons are fundamentally flawed and misleading.

“It is clearly a smokescreen designed to deflect attention from the real issue which needs to be investigated, namely the declining tax contribution from betting to the Exchequer despite rapid and sustained growth in the sector.”

Ruby Walsh expects to return to the saddle at the end of January after suffering a double fracture to his right leg at Down Royal on Saturday. “The operation all went well yesterday and I’ll be back home tomorrow,” Walsh said yesterday. “I reckon I’m looking at 12 weeks out.”