John O'Donoghue (Kerry South, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Deenihan is correct. Investment in the greyhound industry in the North of Ireland has been quite paltry. I understand no funding has been provided to tracks except for a once-off payment in 2001-2002 of €280,000.

Bord na gCon believes there is merit in considering a 32-county approach to greyhound racing and it is well positioned to extend its regulatory responsibility to the North. However, to date the industry in Northern Ireland has not received any financial support of any note or any at all, from the off-course bookmakers' market or from central Government funding. Bord na gCon considers it is crucial that the matter of funding of the sport in Northern Ireland be addressed prior to any determination on allocating responsibilities to an all-Ireland greyhound racing authority. Legislative changes would be required and the scope of the 1958 and subsequent Acts would need to be amended to reflect any change in scope and responsibilities.

I recently met Mr. Hanson, the Minister from the North. We discussed horse racing and greyhound racing but it became clear in the course of those discussions that there really is no clear central government role relating to greyhound racing in the North. In those circumstances it was agreed that officials of both Departments would consider how best to proceed and this is occurring as we speak.

There are obviously difficulties in bringing forward proposals for what is, in the final analysis, another jurisdiction. All we can do is try to see if we can reach a level of co-operation which would see us assisting in so far as we could the industry in the North of Ireland. Currently, 15% of prize money is won by northern greyhounds, which gives an indication of the level of activity here by greyhounds from the North of Ireland and perhaps also an indication of their quality.

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