Budget boost for Horse Racing Ireland with government funding to rise to €72.8m

Betting tax in Ireland is to remain unchanged at two per cent but Irish racing still benefited in Tuesday's giveaway budget for 2023 with its government funding due to rise by €2.4 million to €72.8m.

Suzanne Eade, chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI), welcomed the increase, which comes against a backdrop of the government adding €4.1 billion in one-off measures designed to curb the cost of living and inflation crisis.

HRI has previously advocated for an increase in betting duty, but that possibility, which the Department of Finance's Tax Strategy Group recently recommended should be increased by 0.25 per cent, was not implemented, with the rate of tax remaining at two per cent, the level it has been at since 2019.

Paschal Donohoe, the coalition government's minister for finance, revealed the headline elements of the budget plan in the Dail on Tuesday, and on Wednesday the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine confirmed that the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund would increase to €91m.

Horseracing gets 80 per cent of that, and the €72.8m represents a 3.5 per cent increase on the 2022 figure, which was down from €76.8m in 2021, a sum that was inflated due to the need for pandemic supports. The pre-pandemic figure of 2020 was €67.2m, but the latest increase still leaves the fund a long way off the projection of HRI's 2020 strategic plan to have it increased to €98m by 2024.

Eade said: "I welcome today's budget 2023 announcement and the positive news for the horseracing and breeding industry in Ireland.

"We are all aware of the contribution that the industry makes to the economy, and that was very evident in all of the budget engagements we had throughout the last few months with minister [Charlie] McConalogue and his officials in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine."

Suzanne Eade: will start working on an HRI budget for 2023Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Among the general budget initiatives that may prove of particular relevance to the thoroughbred industry are excise reductions on petrol and diesel, while there is also the potential for the likes of trainers and racecourses to avail themselves of a fresh energy support scheme designed to combat the impact of soaring costs on businesses.

Eade added: "There are always extra details in a budget like this that take time to analyse, and we will take this week to understand what all of the measures mean for the industry. The HRI executive will begin work with the board to formulate a budget for 2023, which we will sign off at our December board meeting."

Michael Grassick, chief executive of the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association, said he would be advising the association's members to explore the energy support scheme, as did his counterpart at the Association of Irish Racecourses, Paddy Walsh.

"I haven't had the opportunity to study the details of the scheme yet but I would have thought most of the energy supports for businesses would apply equally as much to racecourses as other trades," Walsh said. "Hopefully this will be of benefit to them."

Sharon Byrne, Irish Bookmakers Association chair, added: "Retail supports regarding energy costs are very welcome, but costs are spiralling and customer spending is definitely affected."

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