The board of the Irish Horse Welfare Trust has given a vote of confidence to its CEO Sharon Power in response to criticism of the charity in the national media.

Power had been a non-paid board member of the IHWT since co-founding the charity in 1999. Two years ago the board made her CEO and agreed to pay her an annual salary of €36,000 and allowed her to remain on the board. Following a complaint from some former IHWT employees and volunteers, Power gave up her seat on the board last month.

Four of the complainants contacted The Irish Field this week to express their dissatisfaction with the running of the IHWT. Their main allegation is that too much of the IHWT’s income is spent on office staff rather than those directly engaged in horse welfare.

Contacted by The Irish Field, Power said: “I totally refute accusations that we are not doing enough for horse welfare. We have 61 horses on-site at the moment. Usually we have 70. Our wage bill is quite small and I don’t think we could run it any more efficiently than we do.”

STATEMENT

The charity issued a short statement yesterday which confirmed that Power had stepped down as a director “following direction from the Charities Regulatory Authority.” She remains as chief executive “with the full support of the board.”

IHWT chairperson Jane Myerscough said: “We are sorry to see this personal slight on Sharon’s character. When we appointed her CEO we were advised that she could remain as a board member and acted in good faith. We retain 100% faith in Sharon.”

In a letter to industry partners, including The Irish Field, the board said the article in The Irish Times “could cast doubt upon the reputation of the IHWT” and that legal advice had been sought.

Joe Keappock represents the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association on the board. He said: “The board meets regularly at the ITBA offices or on the farm in Wicklow. There is a lot of good work being done and the horses there are looked after very well. The ITBA is 100% supportive.”

Horse Racing Ireland and the Department of Agriculture give an annual grant to the IHWT. A spokesman for HRI said their grant this year was €65,000 and “overall our relationship with the Trust is good.” The Department of Agriculture gave the Trust €60,000 in December 2014 and €87,000 a year later “to assist in providing welfare services to animals.” The closing date for 2016 grant applications is next Monday, July 11th.

Former employee Elizabeth Moore told The Irish Field she believes the IHWT misled the Department when applying for funds to run a horse care programme in 2014.

“I was associated with the IHWT for 10 years until I was let go last year. That course did not take place at the IHWT in 2014 and the course co-ordinator who was named on the application was not involved at that time.”

Power responded to the claim: “Any courses we received funding for did take place – the Department requires names and addresses of all the participants. Sometimes courses are held at places like halting sites rather than at our base.”

The IHWT bought a 68-acre farm at Woodenbridge, Co Wicklow in 2008 following a capital appeal. Land prices were high at that time and it is understood that the Trust continues to pay off its bank loan.

In its letter to industry partners the Trust said that offers of new homes for unwanted horses had decreased dramatically since the recession, “therefore there is little point in re-training more than can be re-homed.” The Trust was instead concentrating on establishing a Thoroughbred Club to support loaners, owners and riders of ex-racehorses. The CEO’s role also involves working with “outreach education programmes, urban horse projects, national micro-chipping and castration clinics.”