DENIS Egan received a golden handshake of €384,870 when he retired from the position of chief executive with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board in September 2021 after 20 years in the job.

The termination payment was 58% more than the maximum permitted under the IHRB’s own early retirement scheme and the matter has been highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General, Seamus McCarthy, in his statement appended to the IHRB’s annual report for 2021.

McCarthy wrote: “The scheme stated that ‘Maximum [early retirement] payment to any individual would not exceed 104 weeks of salary and/or an equivalent redundancy calculation. There will be no exception to this.’

“The terms agreed with the former CEO were, to a significant extent, an exception to the provisions of the Board’s early retirement scheme.”

Asked why Egan received €141,880 more than he should have under the scheme’s terms, a spokesperson for the IHRB said: “He received a termination payment which comprised the amount payable under the scheme and an additional payment from the Turf Club and Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee, in recognition of his service to horseracing in Ireland and abroad.

“The IHRB did not contribute to this additional payment and no public funds were used as part of it.”

The Comptroller and Auditor General also noted that the IHRB has not complied with the Minister for Agriculture’s request to publish the CEO’s annual salary and salary band information in respect of staff salaries.

It also emerged this week that Michael Grassick received a “retirement grant” of just €27,800 when he stepped down as CEO of the Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association [IRTA] last year after 10 years in the post.

The figure was revealed in the annual accounts for the IRTA which were presented at a recent general meeting.

According to a report in the Irish Independent, the accounts also show that the IRTA has €1 million in debts, mainly due to costs associated with the defamation court case it lost in 2020 against IHRB head of security Chris Gordon. The IRTA’s appeal against that verdict was also recently deemed unsuccessful.