Victor Boyhan (Independent)
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I will be brief. I thank the Minister for his presentation. It is a good news story for Horse Racing Ireland. It is €76 million. The Minister has set out the reasons and logic for increasing the top-up funding, because that is what it is. It is effectively a requirement for the Minister to bring this proposal to both Houses of the Oireachtas to get approval for the top-up ceiling. I will not talk about the dogs today. I will concentrate on the horse racing sport and the €76 million, which is to be welcomed.

The Minister briefly touched on the tripartite agreement. That no longer exists with Great Britain, because of the EU Brexit trade agreement and so on. That is a major challenge. If one looks at taking bloodstock or horses into Ireland, equines can only travel from Great Britain to the border posts of Dublin Airport, Shannon Airport, Dublin Port and Rosslare Europort. They are the only four places where they are permitted to come into Ireland. There are significant issues depending on the type of equine, the type of movement, minimum duration of residency and segregation, which may apply under the regulations. There are challenges relating to that.

Look at the reverse, with equines moving from Ireland to Great Britain. Movements of live animals from Ireland to Great Britain must be notified to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the UK before they happen. There has to be 24 hours' notice. There are time-lapses. Other veterinary health clarifications are required for the movement of equines between the two jurisdictions. This poses challenges. I raised the matter with the Minister last year. Does he see any resolution to that? Of course, we have an arrangement or protocol regarding equines going from the North to the South. That is an added complication. Of course, things are moving on and may change. We have the Windsor Framework and so on, which is to be welcomed, as the Minister said in his opening statement. Can he touch on the tripartite agreement and the challenges that presents to the industry? Is there any negotiation and dialogue? We would commonly have many equines going to France and Great Britain. Are any developments or negotiations going on? Clearly, there have to veterinary and health checks. Those are vital. We cannot compromise on that and it would not be right to compromise on that, but, pre Brexit, the arrangement was very different. We had a much freer flow of equines. That added time is causing some complications. Is anyone monitoring that process? What feedback is coming from the people on the ground who are involved in the movement of very valuable equines and the necessity of turning them around to get them heading home again? There are many challenges with that.