Caitriona Murphy
INDECON is set to be appointed as the consulting firm to lead Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed’s review of Horse Sport Ireland, The Irish Field understands.
The independent economic research organisation is regularly called on to advise government departments and has worked in the equestrian sphere before now, having been involved in a review of racing four years ago.
In July 2012, the group published a report into ‘Certain Aspects of the Irish Horse Racing Industry’, as commissioned by the then Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney. That 79-page report formed the basis of the Horse Racing Ireland Act which aimed to create efficiencies and more transparency in the administration of Irish racing. It also led to changes in the composition of the Horse Racing Ireland board.
Indecon also reviewed the Irish greyhound industry in 2014.
The first port of call for Indecon consultants will be to assess the 2015 Reaching New Heights report and submissions received from stakeholders and the general public over the past three weeks.
With an extremely tight timeframe for submissions, it is not known exactly how many documents were submitted ahead of the 5pm deadline on Friday.
A Department of Agriculture spokesperson said: “A number of submissions have been received in respect of the Horse Sport Ireland review and submissions are still being accepted until close of business today. The submissions received will be passed to the consultants conducting the review when they commence their deliberations.”
He added: “While carrying out the review the consultants will communicate with whatever stakeholders they deem appropriate.”
Submissions are expected from the traditionally vocal groups of Irish Draught breeders, the Traditional Irish Horse Association (TIHA) and the Warmblood Studbook of Ireland (WSI), among others.
The TIHA submission is expected to focus on securing a ringfenced section of the studbook for traditional Irish horses and it is believed that the group will be lobbying for funding based proportionately on the registration fees of traditionally-bred horses and a similar share of Department of Agriculture funding.
Tom Reed’s Warmblood Studbook of Ireland submission is understood to major heavily on refocusing HSI on administration of the sport and stripping away its involvement in marketing Irish-bred horses through the Irish Horse Gateway.
It is believed that WSI also proposes that the studbook function of HSI be removed from it and assigned to new or existing breed associations.
The development of a centralised database recording breeding and performance data, as well as rider and horse athlete information has been mooted by some stakeholders, while the idea of a multi-discipline membership model for riders has been promoted in some quarters.
The structure and size of the current HSI board and sub-board structure is seen by many as unwieldy, while the affiliate-based representation is seen as fostering a ‘dog eat dog’ approach to a limited pool of funding.
The Indecon review will begin in earnest this month and, based on its previous review of Horse Racing Ireland, will likely not conclude until early 2017.