THE Minister for Agriculture is understood to be considering a new Foal Levy Bill which was formally introduced in the Dáil this week by independent TD Clare Daly.

Legislation is generally initiated by the Government and private members’ bills, such as this one, do not progress beyond the second stage debate in the vast majority of cases.

Introducing the Foal Levy Bill 2017 in the Dáil this week, Deputy Daly said the current foal levy system, which is based on advertised covering fees, “unfairly and ridiculously discriminates” against small breeders. The Bill proposes to replace the current foal levy system with a 1% sales levy at all public thoroughbred auctions.

The Dublin North TD said the her Bill was motivated by the court case taken by Kildare owner-breeder Gerry Callanan against Horse Racing Ireland on the matter. Callanan initially won the right to be charged the levy based on the actual stallion fee he paid but this was overturned on appeal.

The Circuit Court granted Callanan the right to take a case to the Supreme Court to clarify the legislation but, Daly said, “as a small breeder and owner, he does not really have the means to do that himself.” Daly continued: “As a result of the failure of the Minister [for Agriculture] to change the statutory instrument and as a result of the strenuous efforts of Horse Racing Ireland to frustrate the small owners’ efforts in the courts, I have no choice but to lay the Bill before the House to try to correct the anomaly.”

The Bill also proposes a change in the membership of the Foal Levy Committee. The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association currently holds three of the seven seats on the Committee and Daly feels this represents a conflict of interests as the ITBA benefits from the levy.

She added: “I believe there is some urgency in introducing the legislation because Horse Racing Ireland, in particular, has adopted a pretty heavy-handed approach recently, with a number of breeders being threatened that if they do not pay up in full, despite the lack of legal clarity in this matter, being before the courts, they will be banned from horse racing in Ireland and the UK for the next two years.”