THE Irish Farmers’ Association [IFA] has called for a review of the thoroughbred Foal Levy. The levy requires all breeders to pay an additional fee when registering foals.

Calculated on a sliding scale based on the stallion fee, the Foal Levy supports Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, the Irish Equine Centre and the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association.

Richard Kennedy, IFA deputy president and chairman of the IFA Horse Project Team, met this week with Department of Agriculture officials to discuss breeders’ concerns with the existing levy system.

Kennedy said the IFA had raised a number of key issues around the regulation which the Department are now considering. “The IFA supports the principle of a thoroughbred Foal Levy and the need to support the industry for all breeders, through the various beneficiaries of it,” he said.

The IFA has called on the Department to carry out a review of the regulation, specifically to look at the wording on how stallion fees are arrived at, so that a levy can then be deducted. The existing regulation refers to the “advertised value of the nomination fee”.

The IFA’s position is that it would be a fairer option to collect the levy on the actual stallion fee paid by the breeder, “as there can be a vast difference between the advertised fee and the actual fee paid.”

TRANSPARENCY

The IFA is also proposing that the review should focus on the transparency on collection and allocation of the funding. “Breeders continually highlight to the IFA that the collection and the allocation of the funding lacks transparency,” Kennedy said.

“For the most part, breeders are unaware of who the beneficiaries are and, more importantly, how their money is actually spent on their behalf by the three main beneficiaries – the Irish Equine Centre, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) and the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association (ITBA).

“The IFA also believes that the composition of the Foal Levy Committee needs to be addressed. It is composed of representatives of the ITBA, Horse Racing Ireland and the IFA.

“The IFA contends that it is not considered appropriate, and indeed it is at odds with all corporate governance norms, that organisations that are major beneficiaries of the levy have direct representation on the committee to decide how the funds are dispersed,” Kennedy said.

HRI RESPONSE

The Foal Levy scheme is administered by HRI and spokesman Jonathan Mullin said: “We welcome the IFA’s support for the principle of the Foal Levy. It has been a very successful scheme for the Irish breeding industry and enjoys very strong compliance, in excess of 98%.

“It is a vital contribution to the industry from the breeders, and has played a strong role in ensuring we remain a country renowned for the export of high quality horses.

“The Foal Levy is constantly under review by the HRI Foal Levy Committee which includes IFA representation and which recommends changes where necessary; the Committee has concluded that the current basis and method of calculating and collecting the levy is appropriate at this time. HRI will be happy to discuss any suggestions for improving the system with the IFA.

“It is worth noting that the Foal Levy is tiered in such a way that the foals by the more expensive stallions draw a higher levy. So, for example, the bottom two bands - €35 and €50 – accounted for 24% of the foals in 2017 but just 5% of the income.

“Everybody who works with animals on a daily basis and relies on agriculture for a living will appreciate the importance of a disease-free herd, strong promotion for their product into export markets and experienced representation, and in supporting the Irish Equine Centre, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing and the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association, the Foal Levy ensures all of those things for the breeders of thoroughbred horses in Ireland.”

Kildare breeder Gerry Callanan has been campaigning for a change in the way the Foal Levy is collected for several years.

He has argued in court that the levy should be charged on the “general applicable stallion fee” actually paid by breeders, and not the advertised fee. He also believes a 1% levy on all public bloodstock sales would be a fairer system.