Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin North Central, Labour)
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What most people are not aware of is that all the receipts from betting we have go to the horse and greyhound fund. This levy provides an opportunity to raise moneys on new forms of betting. Other sporting organisations could benefit from this funding too rather than 100% of any bet placed on any sporting event going to the horse and greyhound fund.

Although the Department of Finance always says it cannot ring-fence money for anything, not mental health or suicide prevention, legislation was passed in 2001 to achieve this for the horse and greyhound fund. Can we ensure the receipts from this new levy will not be ring-fenced for the same fund and can we have an assurance that a different arrangement will be in place? It is highly questionable that the arrangement will still be in place for this, underpinned by the legislation. Unless it is amended or repealed, there is little we can do. I am anxious for the Minister to clarify that receipts from the fund would not be ring-fenced for the horse and greyhound fund and that we would have an understanding that the funding mechanism would, perhaps, be reviewed in the future because the legislation was passed in 2001 and we live in very different times. Many different sporting organisations would be keen to impress upon the Minister and his Department that it needs to be reviewed. While I do not take away from the validity of the fantastic resource that is horse and greyhound racing, a dedicated fund for it might be said to be unusual.