Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

The whole debate has been distorted and manipulated. The greyhound industry is the lifeline and life blood of my constituency, particularly given the decline in agriculture. A great number of people are dependent on greyhound breeding, training and the care of greyhounds. The greyhound industry in Tralee has provided more money for Kerry General Hospital than has the Health Service Executive. All of the major equipment in that hospital has been purchased from funding raised at the Tralee track. In 2007, charities obtained approximately €9 million from greyhound tracks around the country. Tralee track is a good example in this regard. To affect this fund is to affect the potential of this type of input for charities.

In all major racing nations, the industry is funded from betting duties. The horse racing fund when established in 2002 was fully financed from betting duties. In the intervening period, while off-course betting has increased from €1.36 billion to €5.5 billion, the tax take has decreased from €68 million to €37 million, requiring the Exchequer to make up the shortfall. This has arisen owing to a series of reductions in the rate of betting duty from 5% to 1% and the emergence of off-shore telephone and Internet betting, which now accounts for almost half the turnover of Ireland's leading bookmakers and which escapes the taxation net. Deputy Barrett is an expert in this area and I am sure he will deal with this issue in his contribution.

The industry depends on the input of bookmakers and people who bet. It is unpatriotic of those people to evade paying tax.

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