Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I wish to pass on my full support for these measures. This industry has great involvement, particularly in rural Ireland, with thousands of jobs, and has gone through a very tough patch in the past seven or eight months. In the Minister's Department, Covid has had a major impact on the marine sector. It probably did not have the same effect on the dairy, beef or tillage industries but it has had a major impact on the marine and racing sectors. That is why this funding is so very important. It trickles down to every parish in Ireland. We can all talk about our own parishes and how the greyhound and horse racing industry is an important part of them.

Some of us served on the previous committee and dealt in detail with the welfare issues. I welcome the Minister's clarification and acknowledgement of what has happened in the past 18 months in particular. The public wants to hear what is being done and where. That is a great step forward and that is what we need to build on. The welfare homes are obviously an issue but we have started them and we just need more of them to be rolled out. That will be important to make sure we have confidence in the industry. When tracks are closed with no spectators, one cannot get commercial funds to come in to fund anything. There is a need for intervention at this stage. The Laurels were held in Cork a few months ago. There are usually 10,000 people at the Laurels night but there was nobody there. Those are the kind of issues we are dealing with in the industry. I welcome this funding. It is important and we need to do more for the next eight or nine months because we do not know where this Covid issue is going to go.