Reply: As the House is aware, under the previous Government, the horse racing industry was being driven towards its demise. This Government has saved the horse racing industry with major reforms and quick actions were taken to address major issues to revamp this industry. One of the reforms was to restore confidence and integrity in the licensing process. I am informed by the Gambling Regulatory Authority that until the repeal of Part IIIA of the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act in 2025, it was the Horse Racing Division that was empowered to issue licences to Trainers, Jockeys and Apprentice Jockeys, respectively. Following the repeal of the section setting up the Horse Racing Division in January 2025, the powers delegated to the Horse Racing Division pursuant to Sections 15(A)(1) and 15(A)(2) of the Gambling Regulatory Authority Act, were restituted in full, to the Gambling Regulatory Authority Board. Consequently, since then, all applications for Trainer Licence, Jockey Licence and Apprentice Jockey Licence are now dealt with by the Board. I am further informed that on 07 March 2025, in view of the start of the new racing season 2025, a press communiqué was issued inviting potential new trainers, assistant trainers, stable supervisors, jockeys, apprentice jockeys and track riders to submit their applications to the Gambling Regulatory Authority. All applications received at the Authority were duly examined, processed and submitted to the Licensing Committee for recommendation to the Gambling Regulatory Authority Board for approval. For the 2025 Horse Racing season, the total number of licences issued were as follows –  Trainer licence: 11  Jockey licence: 23  Apprentice Jockey licence: 9 With regard to part (a) of the question, I am informed by the Gambling Regulatory Authority that for the 2025 Horse Racing season –  22 applications were received for Trainers’ Licence;  38 applications were received for Jockey Licences, out of which 11 for foreign Jockey Licences and 27 for local Jockey Licences, and

131  24 applications were received for Apprentice Jockey licence. Concerning part (b) of the question, I am informed by the Gambling Regulatory Authority that a written examination was held on 28 July 2025 for new trainers in line with the Rules of Racing 2024. There is no such requirement for written examination for existing Trainers, Jockeys and Apprentice Jockeys. As regards part (c) of the question, I am informed that out of the 22 applications for a Trainer Licence, 17 were applying for renewal of their licences and 5 had applied for new licences. Based on the qualifying criteria, only 2 out of the five were eligible to sit for the examination. They were both successful. I am placing in the Library of the National Assembly a copy of the information on –  part (a) relating to the number and dates of applications received;  part (d) regarding the dates of issue of licence;  part (e) concerning the selection criteria, and  part (f) on the terms and conditions. DRIVING LICENCES – DRIVERS’ FITNESS – DEFERRAL POLICY FOR DRIVING PROHIBITION