Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister and the officials. As always when we are dealing with racing, I put on the record, although it is probably well known at this stage, that I am chairman of Kilbeggan race committee. I also have one brood mare and its progeny. I suppose I could be called a breeder, although small one.

I welcome the Minister and pledge my support and that of my party for the increase in the cumulative upper limit. The Minister stated the figures - I will not rehash them - of the jobs created, maintained and supported through this fund in rural Ireland. One of the big mistakes people make when looking at this fund is to categorise horse and greyhound racing as sport, which it is. The three to five minutes that a horse is racing is sport. However, the journey from breeding, to rearing, to training and to transportation to get that horse to the start line on the race track creates and supports so many jobs in rural Ireland where there are few other employers. It is necessary to speculate to accumulate. The return, based on the figures the Minister gave, to the State from the money it invests makes it a worthwhile investment.

I welcome the fact the Minister mentioned the committee's report and acknowledged receipt of it. I will hold him to his commitment to follow through on it. The report cannot afford to end up on the proverbial shelf. It may not be the silver bullet or may not have all the answers. The starting point of the report was probably based on accusations and reports in the national media and we then undertook to do the report. While not all the answers may be included in it, I said at one of the meetings that when accusations are made in the media, traditional or social, many people take them as fact. By virtue of some of the statements made, reputational damage has been done to the industry. As I said at one committee meeting, one is innocent until proven guilty, and I still believe that. Once accusations are made, in the eyes of the public, you are guilty until you prove your innocence.

It is vitally important the Minister and his officials, through that report and whatever complementary things they need to bring in, help to undo the reputational damage done and keep the good name of Irish racing to the fore. I also welcome the Minister's commitment to animal welfare. It is important HRI, the Department and Rásaíocht Con Éireann, RCÉ, remain committed to animal welfare at every juncture of the horse's and greyhound's life. Again, there was serious reputational damage done to the horse racing sector through a "Panorama" programme. We cannot have a repeat of that. It is incumbent on the administering bodies and the Department to continue the funding for animal welfare and ensure it is a central and integral part of all activities.

The Minister will have seen correspondence from Midlands Horse and Pony Racing which needs a small amount of money. It is vitally important it gets it from some source to keep the show on the road. We all sing the plaudits of our top jockeys, whether at Cheltenham, Ascot or wherever, but the majority if not all of those jockeys start out in the incubation that is pony racing and the pony clubs. They would not make it to the lofty heights they reach if not for pony racing. They have a shortfall, and Senator Murphy will probably mention it. If it is at all possible through the fund, the HRI or whoever, it should receive some funding. It is looking for a very small amount of money to cover its insurance. This is money it normally raises through fundraising but in the pandemic, this has not been possible.

People in the racing world have asked me about a matter, and unfortunately it is on the back of the well-documented raid in Monasterevin a couple of weeks ago. When IHRB came before us, it explained how it was going to get on top of the perceived or reported drug issues. Its staff had been granted the status of authorised officers which meant that they could enter premises, both licensed and unlicensed, with horses in or out of training. However, the report about the haul a couple of weeks ago was definitive in saying that the Department carried out that raid and that IHRB was called to the site only when the Department and the gardaí had sealed off the premises. Many people have asked me about the reason behind that. As said on the record during a committee meeting, IHRB staff are now recognised by the Department as authorised officers.