TDs hit out over pay and conditions for stud and stable staff

An interim report commissioned by Independents4Change, a left-wing grouping in Dail Eireann, has been heavily critical of the Irish Stable Staff Association, Horse Racing Ireland and the Turf Club.

The politicians asked independent consultant and former trade union official Dermot O'Loughlin to compile a report into pay, terms and conditions, as well as the matter of representation for stable and stud staff in Ireland.

O'Loughlin's preliminary conclusions were introduced at a press conference in Dublin on Tuesday by Clare Daly TD, who was accompanied by fellow parliamentarian Mick Wallace. The pair have been prominent in encouraging whistle-blowers to come forward in a wide range of sectors.

Daly, who stressed the report is a "work in progress", said: "I began to get interested in goings-on in the racing industry when Brian Kavanagh was reappointed chief executive of HRI last year.

'A major problem'

"The more I delved into the industry the more I discovered areas of serious concern, including pay and conditions. Since we began researching the sector a significant number of employees have come forward to tell their stories, which lead us to believe there is a major problem of employee welfare."

O'Loughlin has examined information received by Daly's office over a six-month period to the end of June. According to the report, concerns centred around matters including the lack of adequate representation for stud and stable staff; widespread breaches of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997; the operation of the sector's pension scheme; the failure to pay overtime; and issues involving the employment classification of stud and stable staff.

O'Loughlin was scathing in his criticism of the ISSA, describing it as "not fit for purpose". He recommends the body should be closed down and that its funding through HRI should cease with immediate effect.

Bernard Caldwell: report's claims are 'completely unfounded and a total misrepresentation of the facts'Credit: Patrick McCann

Bernard Caldwell, chairman of the ISSA and its representative on the board of HRI, has described the criticism as "completely unfounded and a total misrepresentation of the facts".

He said: "I utterly reject the views expressed by Mr O'Loughlin. I regret I was not contacted by him or Ms Daly, since I would have been only too pleased to supply them with correct information.

"I'm satisfied that ISSA represents workers in the industry effectively, and I'm proud of the agreement reached last December which enabled a new pay deal to come into operation on January 1 this year, and due to run until May 2019."

O'Loughlin described that agreement as "not worth the paper it's written on". His report argues HRI should have no role in "mediation or otherwise, in the negotiation of pay, terms, conditions and representation for stable and stud staff".

The report calls for the the replacement of the Turf Club by a new public body styled as the Commission for Animal Sporting Events Regulation.

Such a body could come into being only by means of wholesale rewriting of existing legislation that gives statutory recognition to the Turf Club's regulatory and disciplinary functions within the overall framework of HRI's statutory authority.