Madam, - Fintan O'Toole (December 2nd) stated that "the rich racehorse owners have arranged for the taxpayer to fund much of the prize money for racing".
Fintan is quite right to defend the poor of Ireland, but not by misrepresenting an industry which generates some of the economic activity which actually pays for health, welfare and education.
The facts stand up to scrutiny: - It is Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) not "rich racehorse owners" who work to sustain and develop the industry. HRI is a State body with a board representing all sections of the racing industry - racecourses, the regulatory bodies, trainers, trade unions, stable staff, breeders and of course, the owners - who have one voice among 14 at the table. The board is fully accountable to the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism for its management of the funding it receives. Our accounts are on the public record.
Successive governments have put money into racing because it generates sustainable jobs (c. 25,000) and generates wealth. It puts much more back into the economy than it receives. The Galway Festival alone injects over €60 million into the local economy. Anyone familiar with the racing calendar can see how this effect multiplies across many regions.
Prize money is not a tax loss for the country. Much of the prize fund is contributed by owners themselves and by commercial sponsorship. Owners recover no more than 30 per cent of their costs - if they were allowed to write-off their costs against tax there would be a net loss to the exchequer.
Prize-money is a competitive issue in this most international of sports - the best horses come to compete in Ireland.
Thousands are based here, sustaining a unique rural economy, based on traditional skills and husbandry. Overseas owners race and breed their horses here because of our acknowledged excellence. Public figures should look to sustain and improve such a resource.
What is being proposed? Pull the owners off their high horse(s) to satisfy a populist urge and to hell with the vast agricultural and sporting base that depends on them? The people who have developed the industry into one of Ireland's greatest sporting and business successes deserve better. - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN KAVANAGH, Chief Executive, Horse Racing Ireland, Thoroughbred County House, Kill, Co Kildare.