GREEN Party TD Marc Ó Cathasaigh has expressed disappointment over the news this week that the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s chief financial officer Donal O’Shea has resigned.

O’Shea had been on paid leave for approximately a year “without prejudice” while independent consultants Mazars investigated the circumstances around a seemingly inappropriate temporary transfer of €350,000 from the Jockeys Emergency Fund to the IHRB’s bank account in 2022.

That report has not yet been published although this week a senior official in the Department of Agriculture said he had seen a draft of the report and he expected publication of the final version to be “imminent”.

However, Deputy Ó Cathasaigh believes that O’Shea’s resignation means that the public may never get to hear his side of the story.

Speaking at this week’s Public Accounts Committee meeting with senior Department officials, Ó Cathasaigh said: “The CFO of the IHRB is now unlikely to appear before this Committee to account for the actions that were taken around that transfer of moneys,” he said. “It is highly unlikely that we will ever get that person before the Committee.”

Ó Cathasaigh also referred to the external review of the Horse and Greyhound Fund, details of which were announced this week.

The Department said the fund will be evaluated under three broad headings:

  • Consideration of whether or not the use of the fund to subsidise prize funds represents best value for money
  • The efficacy of the fund in ensuring the highest levels of animal welfare standards
  • A review of the governance framework in place between HRI and its own regulator the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB).

    • Asked by Ó Cathasaigh how much the review would cost and how long would it take to complete, Gordon Conroy of the Department said: “We are waiting for the Mazars report, as the Secretary General said. The terms of reference are ready. There is now a procurement framework in place for consultancies of this type. We will engage with the companies or individuals on that framework to assess their willingness. We will go to the first person on the framework, outline the terms of reference and agree a cost in line with framework agreement and a timeframe.”

    Minister: Abattoir cases due in court soon

    PROSECUTION cases involving alleged breaches of the laws on horse identification and traceability will “shortly be heard before the courts”, the Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has said.

    One case relates to the Shannonside Meats plant in Straffan, which was shut down by the Department of Agriculture following the recent RTÉ Investigates report, and the other case is believed to involve five men charged in relation to the tampering of passports and microchips of horses presented for slaughter at the now-closed Emerald Isle Foods in Thomastown, Co Kilkenny.

    In answer to a parliamentary question this week, Minister McConalogue said: “In advance of any events highlighted in the recent television programme, investigations led by my Department involving individuals connected to [Shannonside Foods Ltd] and another Garda led investigation into other individuals have both progressed such that prosecution cases will shortly be heard before the courts. It would not be appropriate to comment any further on these matters at this time.”