Horse Racing Ireland chief unsure if he is best man for €247,000 job

The chief executive of Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has said he could not know if he would be the best person for the job given his most recent reappointment was not open to competition.

Controversy erupted last year when Brian Kavanagh was reappointed for a third term despite guidelines stipulating chief executives of semi-State organisations should be limited to a single term of seven years. He has now been head of the semi-State body since 2001.

Last September his tenure, which has an annual remuneration package worth €247,000, was ratified for a further five years without an advertisement for other candidates. Mr Kavanagh insisted he had no issue with competing for the position.

Speaking to the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee on Tuesday, Mr Kavanagh said he regretted the issues that arose and that the board had now implemented a succession plan for senior management roles.

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However, Fine Gael TD Michael D'Arcy said the appointment had been "contentious" and asked why governance on national guidelines was not followed.

“We have all learned some lessons,” Mr Kavanagh replied.

He added that his appointment was approved by the board although there had been “complexities” surrounding it since 2009.

Mr Kavanagh said he had not invoked a contract of indefinite duration (CID), similar to a permanent contract. “I would never want to be in a position simply because I was there and was claiming that nobody could shift me out of that position. I would want to be in a position because people wanted me there.”

No advertisement

Mr D'Arcy asked that in a situation where there was no advertisement for somebody to challenge for his job, how did he know he was the best person for it as had been contended by HRI chairman Joe Keeling before the committee last year.

“I don’t know whether I would be the best person for the job,” Mr Kavanagh responded. “I would be quite happy to participate in any open competition for the position and take the outcome of that competition.”

Mr Kavanagh said his reappointment in 2009, following an open competition, was on the basis that he would be allowed to compete for the position again in the future or be transferred to an alternative role within HRI.

In 2011 there was an attempt to remove that aspect of the contract, he said, adding that had he hoped this would be resolved.

“I would be more than happy to compete for a position; I have no issue at all with competing,” he said.

Meanwhile, the committee heard Brexit was considered a “huge concern” for the horse racing industry.

Mr Kavanagh said Ireland and the UK worked as effectively one industry with trainers, jockeys and horses travelling back and forth regularly.

“We are concerned that we would end up being collateral damage,” he said of a potential hard Brexit. Ireland has €225 million worth of annual bloodstock exports, 80 per cent of which go to the UK.