Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I always remember my late mother saying one never saw a poor bookmaker. However, the Irish Bookmakers Association has cried poverty. We did not realise we had so many bookmakers. Certainly, rural bookmakers who provide employment are suffering.

Tremendous progress has been made by Horse Sport Ireland. Reaching New Heights, the title of the strategy it sent us last April, was excellent. Of course, much of it is aspirational, unless it is underpinned by funding. Let us be clear on the need for funding. Very often when money is invested in an industry such as that overseen by Horse Sport Ireland, there is a negative reaction, as people think it is a waste, particularly when other bodies are competing for very scarce resources. Money invested in this sector was subject to significant criticism, but I am glad that everybody is on board, as we did try to provide some money in the past five years to ensure the industry would continue. I am delighted to see progress being made in the high performance sector.

Professor Wall may look young, but he and I clashed in the mid-1970s in the Ags v. Vets Duke football cup final which was not for the faint-hearted. I am delighted to see another Gaelic football man making tremendous progress in the eventing programme, Mr. Joseph Murphy, who is from my neck of the woods and comes from a great Gaelic football family. He has come within a hair's breadth of securing a medal in a very demanding area, which shows what can be done.

I take the point made by Deputy Lucinda Creighton about owners. However, while progress at the top level is important, I am more worried about owners at the lower level, as they are the ones who produce the horses. They are at the farm gate in their area, but they are not getting a look-in because at that level it is not a very lucrative or profitable enterprise. The question is how do we intervene at the non-thoroughbred level to make sure they will continue. I make a plea on their behalf in the same way Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, rightly, makes a plea on the distinctiveness of Connemara.

We have all lauded the achievement in qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, as it gives us a great sense of national pride to see our own making such progress. However, I still worry. At one time, the racing industry was a poor man's trade, but that is no longer the case and small owners are going out of business. We cannot forget the people with one, two or three horses. They have produced some magnificent winners and if we were to go back through their pedigrees, we would see that was where part of the nucleus of the industry originated. However, despite our rush to acclaim the boys at the top - the big boys - everybody cannot be a Coolmore because that level of funding is not available for ordinary people. Horse Sport Ireland has to implement a strategy that will show a preference. Let us be clear about this: the people who are able to do it will do it, but we are losing out when it comes to people who have the potential but not the financial wherewithal to do it. There is a huge gap, some of which can be explained by the figures included in Horse Sport Ireland's presentation, for which I compliment the delegates. There is a lot of waffle, but Horse Sport Ireland has got down to brass tacks. Senator Denis Landy has noted that we have dropped in the rankings. Part of the problem in that regard is the industry is no longer profitable for some.

On the policy of having all sports horses registered and recorded, with their pedigree identified and DNA traced, that is the bedrock on which the industry will progress. What percentage of foals are being lost in the recording system in the sense that their pedigree is not recorded? Is it a significant or small number?

Horse Sport Ireland has used the additional money allocated well. I am glad that it has not all been put into one area; rather than having all its eggs in one basket, it has opted to invest in three or four areas. That is important because we must have an inclusive rather than an exclusive industry. For a while it looked as if it was moving that way.