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

I thank the Minister and his officials for the presentation. The Labour Party is acutely aware of the undeniable importance of these industries to rural Ireland and the significant contributions made to rural economies in indirect and direct employment and through exports, especially in the horse racing area.

Our support for the fund, however, is very much conditional. Five months ago, the Minister would not have had Labour Party support. It is the first time to receive such support in two decades. I was present for the introduction of the 2001 Act. Everybody has to get his act cleaned up. There are valuable funds being invested. The beneficiaries of all State funding have to get their house in order, and rightly so because the funding is significant. A sum of €84 million is significant Many other areas could benefit from it. Organisations must keep their houses in order, including by ensuring the welfare of horses and greyhounds. The greyhound industry, in particular, was the subject of a documentary in this regard some months ago, as Deputy Cahill stated. The highest welfare standards must apply and animals should be treated with compassion and respect from birth right until their final days. Mr. Nyhan and others reassured the committee in this regard. Deputy Cahill stated Mr. Nyhan and Mr. Dollard were very reassuring in their recent appearance before the committee, especially in respect of retirement, rehoming and trust homes. It is about time.

In fairness to everybody involved in the industry, all of this work starts with the animal owner. If I have an animal, I should look after it. It should be part of my remit to do so and I should not transfer responsibility to somebody else, unless there is a great number involved or some such reason. Bord na gCon has got a handle on this. That is why we will support this measure today. It is only in the past couple of months that I have been able to say this. The chairman, who is now more than a year in his position, has certainly a handle on it and reassures one and gives one confidence. It is vital and paramount that all industries receiving State subventions act with absolute integrity and probity in their governance, in running their affairs and in respect of the welfare of the animals under their supervision. Traceability is important, especially in the greyhound industry. I saw an advertisement recently for welfare officers and senior executive officers. That is another very positive development. Those concerned need not think we are taking our eye off the ball. We are all watching. We do not need any programmes to tell us when something is wrong. Our constituents also tell us.

Over the years, Mr. Kavanagh always stated - I did not always agree with him - that he would like the horseracing industry to reach a point where it would be self-financing and would not depend on State funding. It is an objective. It is one of the objectives that I hope will be achieved.

Some €60 million was obtained from increasing the betting tax. That was for two thirds of the year. That would equate to approximately €90 million for a full year. The €84 million provided by the HGRF is, therefore, covered by the betting tax. I could say the money should be used for orthodontic treatment and everything else but the funding is coming from within the industry. It is important that this message goes out. It must be stated straightaway, however, that the football clubs and other clubs are saying that they also bet. This is the argument they make but, nevertheless, it is worthwhile saying the money is coming from within the betting industry. The way to make the industry fully self-financing is to make sure all areas are levied appropriately.

Some of the money goes towards prize funds, particularly in horseracing. There is no problem with prize funds in horseracing but I would like more money going towards prize funds at a lower level. It is great having the big races in the Curragh and elsewhere but tracks in places such as Kilbeggan, Roscommon, Sligo and Ballinrobe need to be given more help. If I disagree with HRI over anything, it is on this. There is an old expression in Ballinacarrigy that the fat goose always gets fatter and that if enough grease is rubbed to its posterior, it will get fatter still. That is how I feel about this.

The thoroughbred industry is well able to cater for itself. It has a lot of advocates. There are only four or five, but Senator Daly is chairperson of the racecourse and doing a great job in Kilbeggan with more expansions and everything else. They are fighting there every day trying to get a bit of sponsorship and make races attractive. Sometimes HRI is not as generous as it should be in the allocations and attaches lots of conditions. Sometimes there might be only six or seven horses competing in the big races with four or five out of the one stable. It is a little bit of an irritation with me that the €68 million is almost going into a fund that provides significant prize money that the ordinary Joe that I meet at the race meeting and people who own shares on horses and stuff like that never have an opportunity of being on that pitch, whereas at jumps meetings small owners can compete with Michael O'Leary even if they have a horse born somewhere down a back lane. That is what I like about that, and that is the difference. That is why I am supportive of the jumps industry in that regard.

I knew the IHRA issue would come up, and in fairness there are plenty of people nudging along the harness racing submissions and everything else. They seem to be a very reputable group. Any time they have come before the committee, they have made very strong, impressive presentations. The 2001 Act underpinning the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund can be amended to provide a dedicated sum. Allocating €500,000 to the IHRA is the similar to some other body getting €10 million. The fund amounts to €84 million next year but €1 million would go a long way, and if we had to, we could amend the legislation to ensure that. There is a new body, which has developed in the past few years. There is an international aspect to harness racing and the IHRA does its business in a very professional way, and I concur with Deputy Cahill that we should divert money to it in some shape or form by amending the legislation. I know the Minister would act ultra viresthe legislation if he carried on like that now, and he has tried to give them some money without trespassing into this area, but it is a new body in a new area that could become self-financing much quicker than the others with a little boast. That is an important area.

Every time Brian Kavanagh appeared over the past 18 months, he wanted to talk about Brexit. We are all acutely aware of the trilateral relationship and the way that could be significantly affected. I am glad there is an all-Ireland dimension now to integrity and probity in the greyhound industry. The Bord na gCon staff are working with their British colleagues, and that is important to root out anybody who has misbehaved. There should be no tolerance, whatever the status of the individuals, whether they are the top trainer or whatever else. There should be no one smiling out of the television getting top awards where they have transgressed. The good example is that of the ordinary people who try to mind their greyhounds or run their greyhounds with limited resources and do the best they can to provide top-class welfare. We have reached that stage now that the bigger the transgressors are, the harder they should fall.