Paul Daly (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the Minister and his officials. I am duty bound to declare I have interest as a horse owner and director of Kilbeggan Racecourse and the former chair of same. I warmly welcome the horse and greyhound fund. I fully get how important it is to the industries and the role both industries play in the progression of rural Ireland. There is much media commentary in particular on the distribution of prize money. Before I even start, I know I will be speaking out of both sides of my mouth and contradicting myself. I see where Deputy Carthy is coming from. The one thing I would say that quoting the number of trainers among whom the money is divided up is probably not the best model to use as they probably train horses from multiple owners. It is probably filtering down a little bit more than the point that has been made. However, we have to maintain a standard. To use a soccer analogy, the money in the Premier League killed the League of Ireland. If we do not keep up our top prize money, we will lose our horses as they will follow the trainers who will follow the prize money to the Middle East, the United States, Japan or wherever it is. The proof that the model is working is that very little of our prize money leaves the island, whereas at the same time our big trainers and owners are able to go to the United States, the Middle East and particularly the UK and bring prize money back to the Irish economy. That is proof the model is working.

I agree with Deputy Carthy that the small-time breeders at the bottom of the tree with fewer than five mares who cannot afford to go to a top-quality stallion might never see prize money. If something is not done to enhance and support these small types of operations, they may be the ones who walk away. If we start undermining the tree at the bottom, it will have the same effect as cutting the money at the top. The Minister spoke about the input and oversight he has regarding the money that goes to HRI. Is there any way to influence HRI to come up with a breeding scheme for the type of people I am speaking about who have five mares or fewer? It could be similar to the suckler scheme in farming.

Breeding a horse that will get them back the money, through prize money or at the sales, is a dream and it may not always happen. If they stop dreaming, we will lose out. Anyone who has been in Kilbeggan knows it is one of the best attended and fun racetracks in the country but the quality of horses is as low as we can go. If we did not have the low-quality horses, we would not have Kilbeggan or the low standard races, and we would not have the entertainment and enjoyment people seem to get. Through the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association or HRI, is it possible for the Minister to see whether some of this money could be filtered through in ways other than prize money? I will argue that we keep the prize money and keep our standards and I know there is a bit of a contradiction in this.

The Minister said he gets business models from the two organisations and the funding they get from the Government is based on these. What oversight or input does the Minister have regarding how the organisations spend their budgets? I mean the entire budget, including the matching funding. On the horse racing side, the biggest source of income other than the State money is from media rights, entry fees and sponsorship. Does the Minister have any input into how that is distributed or spent? I have been here for six years. The committee has met HRI annually. The Irish Equine Centre at Johnstown and the second all-weather track get discussed every time it comes before the committee. Who makes the final decision on where the funding goes? Does the Minister have an input? Can he say in any one year, when he is giving €71 million or 80% of the €91 million, that X amount must go towards capital funding and name two projects he sees as being the most important developments?

I will ask a question off brief. It is about the structure of the board of the IHRB. There was much discussion on this during our previous deliberations. Was the way in which this body is formed part of the Minister's discussions on how much money it would get for the coming year?