Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister, Deputy Coveney, for coming in. I welcome this significant increase in the investment in rural Ireland through the investment in the horse and greyhound fund. The Minister has outlined the economic activity of €1.1 billion from the horse industry and €500 million from the greyhound industry. That is economic activity in parts of rural Ireland where there is very little alternative and where there are no big multinationals employing people.

Senator O'Brien referenced foreign direct investment. At the Goffs sales, I was struck by the number of high net worth individuals who had flown in from all around the world to buy Irish horses. It is a product we sell that, if it was in some different sphere, would probably have even more supports from the IDA. Rather than feeling in any way uneasy about how he would explain this to people in Ireland, Deputy Ferris should recognise it is a very good news story that we can tell. It is the Government supporting 14,000 jobs, although I know it was 16,000 not long ago and over 20,000 some time before that. There is no reason we cannot get back to 20,000 jobs but that will need a more sustained period of investment.

In recent years, due to the economic circumstances, we have had a situation where the money has been a matter of survival for the racing industry. We want to get back to a point where it can plan and grow, and the industry needs more medium-term planning. There are currently capital projects in my own constituency, of which the Minister is aware, and we have managed to maintain that momentum. I am pleased Deputy Ó Cuív is supportive of the industry and the motion before us, considering Fianna Fáil's proposal in recent years that it would cut the horse and greyhound fund by €10 million, which would have been catastrophic.

The acknowledgment is here. While not a hypothecated tax, the link with the Betting (Amendment) Bill is very obvious, and that is a link I will not let go of if the Department of Finance ever tries to come back in. There was never a justification for dropping the betting tax from 2% to 1%, but I accept the Minister, Deputy Noonan's point that he wants the Betting (Amendment) Bill, and the extension to offshore and online betting, bedded in first, and we can then look at the overall rates. I hope we will be having that discussion in the run-up to the next budget. I believe it is the right thing to do and that this would be very much linked with the industry and with increased investment into the future. I commend the Minister on his work to date.