DARRAGH O’Loughlin, chief executive of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board, will appear before the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine next Thursday.

O’Loughlin will face questions from TDs and senators on the financial issue of “grave concern” which he uncovered in the IHRB accounts on June 27th and revealed to the Public Accounts Committee two days later. Little more is known about the issue which is being investigated by the professional services firm Mazars.

Rumours were circulating at the Curragh last weekend that the matter involved one or more of the four charities which the Turf Club and Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committees administer.

In an interview on Racing TV before the Irish Derby, broadcaster Nick Luck asked IHRB chief executive Darragh O’Loughlin for a reassurance that the Drogheda Memorial Fund, Jockeys Accident Fund, Qualified Riders Accident Fund and Jockeys Emergency Fund were not affected by “any financial impropriety.”

O’Loughlin responded: “I can’t address any form of speculation. Until the independent review is carried out and we have the findings I can’t respond to any direct queries about it.”

The IHRB boss discovered the financial issue while preparing for an appearance before the Public Accounts Committee to answer questions in relation to the early retirement payment made to O’Loughlin’s predecessor Denis Egan.

When he retired in 2021, Egan received a payout of €385,000 which was €142,000 more than he should have received under the early retirement scheme guidelines. It emerged that the €142,000 was paid from the private resources of the Turf Club and INHSC, something which O’Loughlin confirmed last weekend.

Having said he would “not necessarily have handled it that way” had the decision to supplement Egan’s payment been down to him, O’Loughlin suggested that staff morale at the IHRB has been damaged by the revelation.

“I don’t think the hard-working staff at the IHRB are delighted to see it,” O’Loughlin told Racing TV. “Our resources are limited and we do the best job we can with what we have. I would not be surprised if there are IHRB staff members who are saying ‘there was money for that but there isn’t money for this’.

“There is a lot of disquiet in RTÉ over what was going on at the top,” he continued. “I would hate to think – but I could see how it would be possible - that some of our staff who are doing a great job might think ‘Hey, hang on a sec. I am working hard. Where’s my bump?”

This financial issue is just one of a number of significant hurdles facing the IHRB in the coming months. Heavier sanctions for whip and interference rule breaches came into force this week and it remains to be seen what impact they will have.

Trainer Denis Hogan has lodged an appeal against a three-month suspension he recently received for a prohibited substances offence. Separately, a judgement is awaited following a recent 10-day Referrals Committee hearing which involved 11 adverse analytical findings in one as-yet-unidentified yard.