Mr. Brian Kavanagh:

To address the points Deputy Penrose made, I will reiterate what I said about on-course betting. It is absolutely vital we protect the on-course bookmaker. It is not easy to see a solution - I will not hide that - and we are trying as hard as we can to work with the bookmakers on the tracks.

I would like to pick Deputy Penrose up on one point. He said Irish prize money is significantly higher than that in the UK. That is misleading. If one takes the straight average prize money per race, the answer is that it is, but if one considers the cost - and the Deputy has criticised some of the costs surrounding declaration of fees and entry fees - that owners are having to pay towards prize money in Ireland compared to the UK, it is significantly higher. If one nets that prize money out from what the owners contribute and then takes the prize money as an average per horse in training or an average per runner, we are significantly behind the UK and well behind France. Therefore, while on the face of it the prize money might look attractive, when one scratches beneath the figures, we are behind the international competition.

Without trying to sound smart, on the one hand, Deputy Penrose cannot complain that we are charging owners too much but then say the prize money is too high. Part of the reason for this is that the owners are contributing to prize money. As part of the new funding structure, for which we are seeking the committee's support for the industry, we would like to be able to reduce all these costs on owners in order to ensure our prize money remains competitive. We see the money that Horse Racing Ireland, through its horse and greyhound racing fund, puts into prize money as a major stimulus for the rural economy.

Last year we put in enterprise money of €35 million and people will argue that this could go to more worthy causes. However, that money stimulates in excess of €400 million in investment by racehorse owners in purchasing horses and keeping them in training. Over 8,500 horses were in training last year and, taking into account the average cost, including veterinary and downstream costs as well as purchase, this is a high return. The funding should be from betting tax and not from funds needed for general Exchequer purposes, a recommendation the predecessor to this committee made and for which we would seek support from the current committee. To suggest our prize money is significantly better than in the UK is not to look at the full facts.

The Deputy is right that a media rights contract has been signed until 2023. That is good but it is a double-edged sword as racecourses can become dependent on media rights. Some racecourses in the UK have not tied up rights contracts for this year and face losing that income so we cannot be complacent about media rights income. I support everything Deputy Cahill said about point-to-points. There was never a desire on the part of Horse Racing Ireland to have provisions in the legislation to control point-to-points in a rigid fashion. They are part of the industry and we want to support them. The legislation was possibly a missed opportunity to have the type of dialogue we are having now but the board is committed to supporting point-to-points going forward.

The chairman has put owners front and centre and their costs have been reduced by 30%. I do not disagree with the point about colours or the authority to act but when our funding was cut we had to find it from somewhere else. It might be said that we went for the soft targets by implementing charges but we have reduced them by 30%. We have eliminated eight charges entirely and we will continue our programme to do so.

I was asked about the Curragh and champions weekend. We are damned if we do and damned if we do not The Curragh has been starved of development funding and is in dire need of redevelopment. We have come up with a proposal for a public-private partnership which has generated €32 million in investment. We are hoping to raise up to €40 million in private investment to reduce the funding the State is required to put in. The track at the Curragh is central to the flat racing programme and we are too dependent on it. The Phoenix Park and Leopardstown had very high-quality sprint racecourses but they have both gone. The M50 took the sprint track from Leopardstown and the Phoenix Park was lost to development. The Curragh is a unique track that can take up to 30 runners in races over certain distances and to lose that from the flat programme would create challenges. We decided to continue to race during construction, but with a limited capacity. The board met the Curragh chairman and chief executive yesterday and I believe the facilities at both meetings will be very good. It should be remembered that they were not much to write home about before and were decrepit before the works started. This year could even be one of the most enjoyable Derbies ever because of its uniqueness.

I will not get into the specifics of the case relating to the foal levy but there is 99% compliance with the levy. The levy is a fraction of the cost of producing a foal. A stallion might cost €2,500 and production costs could total €6,000 or €7,000 in a year but the levy is €35. None of us likes paying levies or taxes but 99% of breeders comply with it. Deputy Pentose has been a supporter of our game for a long time and it is much appreciated.