Legislative Measures
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-19
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Michael Murphy (FG), Tipperary South

I thank the Minister of State. The response confirms that under section 74 of the 1993 Act, with the permission of An Garda Síochána and the local authority, a race can be held. Section 74 should be removed from the 1993 Act. It is so difficult to enforce because the legislation allows only for the organiser of the particular race to be prosecuted and it is impossible to identify the organiser. These are matters the committee on transport will follow up.
As I mentioned, we have no clear national licensing system. I am really concerned about the minimum age and I will explore with the Minister for agriculture whether it can be dealt with under the Control of Horses Act 1996. There is no equivalence in terms of insurance requirements. The incident in Clonmel resulted in two third-party cars being significantly damaged and those individuals had no comeback.
What we have at the moment is a patchwork of old legislation. In the context of Dublin, it goes back to legislation prior to the foundation of the State, which covers the Dublin metropolitan area. It is legislation from the 1850s. We have local by-laws and limited enforcement powers. There is no coherent modern national framework governing the use of horse-drawn vehicles. This is why we need an interdepartmental working group, where we can get officials from the Departments of justice, Transport and agriculture into a room. If somebody gets behind the wheel there are clear rules around age, competency, insurance and enforcement. Unfortunately, similar clarity does not apply to horse-drawn vehicles. As I said, I am sorry to have to say I am convinced, as Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport, that with a failure to act we will see the loss of human life and the continuing loss of equine life.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-19