Prize Money Payments

Greyhound Racing Ireland now make prize-money payments to owners/trainers/breeders by an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) directly to your nominated bank account. At the same time a remittance advice will issue by e-mail, to the payee with confirmation of the payment and details of the transactions.

The provision of bank account details to receive payment will become a term and condition of entry and only owners/trainers/breeders providing bank account details will receive payment of prize-money from the Board. The Board will hold your prize money until you provide us with your bank account details.

Bank account Forms

Click here to download a Bank Account form or Click here to download a Credit Union Account form. Please return the completed form to the following address

C/o Prizemoney Department, Greyhound Racing Ireland, Greenpark, Dock Road, Limerick

Click here to download a Bank Account form for Public Trainer's 10% prizemoney or click here to download a credit union account form for Public Trainers. Please return the completed form to the following address

Regulation Department, Greyhound Racing Ireland, Greenpark, Dock Road, Limerick

In addition to the current 10% Licensed Public Trainers Scheme, the GRI has introduced the ability for an owner to nominate a greyhound’s licensed public trainer to receive all prize-money won, on the owner’s behalf, up to a maximum of €7,500 per greyhound per annum. Any prize-money won per greyhound per annum in excess of the mandated €7,500 will automatically be paid into the owner’s bank account. The nomination by an owner of a licensed public trainer to receive prize-money payments on his/her behalf is entirely at the owner’s discretion. Your Licensed Public Trainer will have information on this.

Why EFT? EFT is in part necessitated by recent E.U. requirements which disallow the Board from directly funding prize-money payments to greyhound stadia. The introduction of an EFT system also enables the Board to provide the transparency as required by the European Commission which establishes limits on the amount of prize-money which can be paid to any owner/trainer/breeder from the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund.

What is EFT? EFT stands for Electronic Fund Transfer. It is a process whereby monies are transferred electronically from one bank account to another without the need for cash or cheques.

What does this mean for you? In effect, this means that prize-money will no longer be paid to you by cheque or cash from stadia, but will be paid directly into your bank account from the G.R.I.  head office, with the following advantages:

Saves Time/More Convenient Time spent queuing to collect, cash or lodge cheques is avoided. You will no longer have to go to the stadium for your payment. Direct payment method through this system accounts is credited more efficiently. Under the EFT prize-money payments system, money is transferred directly into the nominated account.

More Secure EFT payments to Bank Accounts eliminate any possibility of loss or theft of payable cheques and the effort and delay involved in seeking replacements.

Notification of payments issued Lodgements to accounts is notified to the account holders by the issue of regular remittance advice by post/e-mail, containing details of the prize-money won.

Stadium Efficiency The EFT system will provide increased administrative efficiency at stadium level in that the manual process of writing/printing cheques and reconciling bank statements will be largely removed thus providing savings to the Industry for reallocation to other areas of the business.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Q. What do I have to do to receive payments directly into my bank account?

A. All you have to do is complete the appropriate form and return to the Prize Money Department, Greyhound Racing Ireland, Greenpark, Dock Road, Limerick.

Q. Where can I get one of these forms?

A. The forms are available on our website at www.grireland.ie (‘Trainers & Owners’ section), from your local greyhound stadia or from the Prizemoney Department, Greyhound Racing Ireland on 061-448150, or e-mail prizemoney@grireland.ie .

Q. How will I know when a payment has been made?

A. Even though your money is paid directly to your bank account, Rásaíocht Con Éireann, will still issue you with a remittance note through your nominated e-mail with confirmation of the payment.

Q. How will I know what the payment is for?

A. The remittance note issued by e-mail will contain details of all prize-money won by each greyhound detailing each occasion and location where the greyhound won prize-money.

Q. What type of Bank Account can I have my payments made into?

A. Payments will be made into working bank accounts i.e. a current or savings/deposit account. Payments can also be made into Post Bank and a small number of Credit Unions (for details contact your localbranch).

Q. What if my bank is not located in the Republic of Ireland?

A. We have put in place the facility to pay Northern Ireland and UK bank account holders their prize-money in Sterling. The exchange rate for prize-money is the rate given to us by our bank at the time of payment.GRI will not add any charges onto this rate. When completing your bank account details, ensure that the full address of your bank is provided.

Q. What happens if I change my Bank Account Number?

A. You must notify the Prizemoney Department, Greyhound Racing Ireland, Greenpark, Dock Road, Limerick in writing immediately.

Q. What happens if I change my address or personal details?

A. You must notify the Irish Coursing Club by phone immediately to have your details updated.

Q. Will I be able to receive payments by cheque?

A. No. From December 1st 2008, all prize-money payments are only paid electronically.

Q. Are there any tax implications for me as an individual?

A.  As an owner, Greyhound racing may be treated as a hobby by the Revenue and therefore not liable to tax. Breeders and trainers should consult their accountants/local tax office. 

Q. Are my bank account details held securely?

A. The GRI has invested heavily in its’ IT infrastructure and its database is hosted securely offsite by a professional hosting company in Ireland. Our security is reviewed regularly by a team of external specialists. We comply with the latest industry recommended security standards.

Q. Who will have access to my details?

A. Only properly authorised GRI staff will have access to your details for administrative purposes.

Q. Can I nominate my spouse/other family member’s bank account?

A. No, the nominated bank account must belong to the registered owner of the greyhound.

Q. Can we as joint owners nominate which owner is to receive the payment?

A. If the owners do not have a joint bank account then the first-named owner must be nominated to receive the payment.

Q. What is the purpose of the passwords required?

A. The passwords are necessary for security purposes for any communications with GRI in relation to your account, particularly by telephone. The application form requires that you provide two separate passwords of your choice, one a Significant Date Password (an 8 digit number in the dd/mm/yyyy format) and also a Personal Password of up to 26 letters and/or numbers. We recommend passwords that you can easily recall. You should consider keeping a copy of your application form in a safe place. If you cannot provide the passwords when contacting us to discuss your account, for security purposes, you will be required to submit a newly completed application form.

Q. Do I have to provide my e-mail address and contact/mobile phone?

A. Yes, where applicable, this information will be used to communicate with you. It will not be disclosed to any external parties. An e-mail address is neccessary in order to receive your remittance advice. 

Q. Is the prize-money database updated for changes in my greyhound ownership/contact details?

A. Yes, our system is updated daily with all registration changes made by the Irish Coursing Club (ICC). Therefore, once there are any changes regarding your greyhounds/contact details it is imperative that you contact the ICC immediately to notify them of this change. GRI will not accept any responsibility for incorrect prize-money payments where the ICC have not been promptly notified of changes to ownership/contact details.

Q. What is the procedure if a greyhound changes trainers?

A. The current procedure still applies, that is that the new trainer will include the greyhound on their “Public Trainer Monthly Return”. If the greyhound changes mid-month, then the trainer needs to notify the track on the night of racing that he is the current trainer before the race commences to ensure that the 10% Public Trainer Incentive is correctly awarded.

Q. Can I elect to get paid at shorter/longer intervals?

A. Unfortunately this will not be possible with the GRI system. Payment procedures have been pre-defined by the GRI and will be unable to accommodate individual requests.

Q. How can a syndicate receive prize-money?

A. Syndicates must ensure that they have opened a society/club bank account in the registered syndicate name into which all winnings will be paid. Your local bank should be able to assist you with this. Alternatively, the prize-money can be paid into the account of the person authorised to act on the syndicate’s behalf as agreed by the syndicate members as stated on the Registration form. A copy of this registration form which can be obtained from the Irish Coursing Club must be included with the bank/credit union form.

Should you require any further information or assistance with regard to the new EFT prize-money payments system, please do not hesitate to contact the Prizemoney Department, Greyhound Ireland, telephone 00353-61-448150 or by e-mail at prizemoney@grireland.ie