Mr. John Moloney:

I will answer the questions addressed to me. I was asked about prize money. Deputy Cahill comes from a very special county in horse racing terms. We saw over the weekend, as was mentioned, the amount of prize money that came back to County Tipperary which was won by a wonderful racehorse in France in what is probably the richest race in the world. One should be proud to have that trainer, jockey and owner living in one's constituency. Regarding the national hunt and flat racing, we are always trying to find a balance. On the programmes and fixtures committee, we are always trying to make that divide as near as possible. With regard to flat racing, the prize money for the international races, as we had during the champions weekend here not so long ago, is very successful. It was won by a French horse. There are swings and roundabouts and it can go out of the country as well as being won here. We have a wonderful national hunt breed in this country and all those who subscribe to that should be complimented whether in our point-to-point field or national hunt racing on Mondays and on any other day. There is racing in Punchestown today and we would all rather be there. It is being looked after as well as possible within the industry.