Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his presentation. Coming from the Carlow-Kilkenny area I know the benefit of the horse racing and greyhound industries. The majority of horse breeding enterprises here are people with a couple of acres of land and a few mares. Some people keep ponies for use by their children and farmers often breed them for point to points. We all know how popular they are. There are also other people who are involved in bigger set ups, such as, for example, Jim Bolger and the Mullins family in Kilkenny and Carlow, which are similar to small to medium businesses in terms of the number of people employed therein. When a factory opens in a particular area and 30 or 40 people get employment there, people are aware of it. However, much of what goes on in this industry is unseen. As stated, much of what happens in this area happens at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. Jim Bolger could have up to 30 or 40 people riding out horses every morning, as could Willie Mullins. The horse racing industry is huge in terms of the amount of employment it provides.

It is important the greyhound industry is not forgotten. There are people in every parish in Ireland who breed horses or greyhounds. The greyhound industry here is also important, with many greyhounds bred here going to England to race in the Derby and so on. As mentioned, it is important we ensure our excellence in this area is continued. If not, somebody else will move in and push us aside. The new money is in the Far East and China. We are all aware that some studs are tying in with China on horse breeding programmes and so on. It is important funding for the industry is ensured to allow us remain at the top of our game and tie into this new money. China, which is a vast country with a huge population, is hugely interested in the greyhound and horse industry. We must ensure our industry is properly funded to allow it take advantage of the demand from China for top quality horses and greyhounds.

While funding of €45 million appears a large amount, funding in this area has been cut by 28% in the past few years. Despite this, the industry has survived. We must ensure this funding remains in place to allow the industry continue its excellence in horse breeding, be it by a farmer for point to point or at Coolmore for racing in the Melbourne Cup or Derby races and so on. We must continue to support this industry.