Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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It is not that I thought of raising the issue of prize money; it was people in the sector, particularly smaller breeders and trainers. They say that it discriminates against them because it makes it more difficult for them to develop their operations. they also state that the diversion of a large amount of public money towards the prize fund ensures that the big operators will continue to get bigger and the smaller operators and newer entrants will find it increasingly difficult to break through. That can be seen when looking at the breakdown of the division of the prize fund. For example, between 2018 and this year, 48% of flat racing prize money went to the top five breeders. In the context of winter all-weather racing, the figure was 33% - it was 46% if you go to 10%. Some 52% of all prize money for national hunt racing went to the top five operators.

Can the Minister understand how there might be smaller operators in his county and mine that feel this way of spending money is not the best way to support the industry? That is why we have brought forward proposals to carry out a full evaluation of the efficacy of the money we are spending to ensure we get the best social and economic impact from the taxpayers' investment.