Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have this opportunity to contribute to the debate on this very important legislation, the objectives of which are to strengthen governance and transparency within horse racing, to clarify the respective roles of the HRI and the RRB, to improve accountability and control over the generous State funding of the sector and to streamline the administrative functions of these two bodies. While these objectives are both laudable and timely, we must be careful to ensure in our rush to the headland of good governance that we do not suffocate and snuff out the work of many inspired generations of volunteers throughout the country. I refer, for example, to point-to-point racing and how it is governed and administered. We must be careful not to see everything through the prism of the large, viable and disproportionately better supported HRI. The smaller provincial racecourses will be the victims in this and will lose out in terms of funding, particularly if the media rights provisions in section 5 come to pass. That effectively gives the HRI the right to secure all income generated from the sale of media rights as part of its general functions.

I will digress for a moment and refer to a matter in which the Minister is greatly interested. Indeed, I applaud his interest. We all know that the horse racing industry makes an important contribution to employment in numerous areas including training, breeding, catering, betting, regulation and transport and provides work for jockeys, stable hands and so forth. That is why it is absolutely critical that we put a full stop to the stupid, ill-conceived and bananas plans of various wind companies to erect wind turbines across the midlands, in the heart of the rural Ireland. Wind farms and stud farms are incompatible and do not run together. There is a clear danger that some prominent stud farmers will relocate if these monstrosities are given the go ahead. I do not think it will ever happen but we must be vigilant. I unequivocally support the efforts of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, to increase significantly setback distances and to curtail and restrict the areas where these companies are contemplating setting up wind farms so as to protect stud farms, villages and agricultural and pastural lands. These wind farms should not be allowed in any such areas. There are more than 200,000 acres of cutaway bog available for the extraction of wind energy. That said, I am of the view that the economic case for wind energy is dead in the water and does not stand up. If wind farms were not subsidised they would not even get out of the traps. As is the case in Britain, I advocate that subsidies be cut off and discontinued altogether. We should let the wind farm projects stand on their own two feet, so to speak, if they are capable of doing so at all. I urge the Minister to ensure they become a dead duck.

I am acutely aware of the fact that the bloodstock industry is of enormous economic benefit and nowhere more so than in my own constituency. The horse and greyhound industries secured significant additional resources in the recent budget thanks to the good work of the Minister which must be acknowledged. The industry provides more than 17,000 jobs, as my colleagues have said, and is worth well in excess of €1 billion, with exports worth in excess of €200 million. We all recognise that State support was designed to make up for the shortfall in funding for the horse and greyhound sectors caused by the economic downturn.

Racecourses are the critical element for horse racing, as the Minister is well aware. Without the 26 racecourses located across 19 counties, which are capable of hosting both national hunt and flat race meetings, the industry would not exist at all. In recent times, horse racing has seen significant declines in a number of key areas. Attendances are down, on-course betting activity has reduced significantly and the number of racehorse owners and horses in training is down by over 30%, although the decline in the last area has been stabilised somewhat in recent times.

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