Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the money and thank the Minister for announcing the allocation of an extra €80 million, bringing the total to €1.2 billion. It is a wonderful industry in which many people are employed. Like previous speakers, I am very concerned about doping or drugs being used. That practice must be rooted out and we must come down heavily on it because those involved are tarnishing the name of this good and wonderful industry.

Clonmel track is located in my constituency. Think about all of the pleasure and enjoyment it and coursing give. Think also about the spin-offs, the money and industry that go into it. I ask Deputies Paul Murphy, Maureen O'Sullivan and others who oppose it to come to see the industries that surround it. Everyone who has a dog has to have a kennel, avail of veterinary services, have tackle, foodstuffs and everything else that goes with it. I am all for the industry and want to support it.

Like others, I support the amendment to the 2015 Act on betting tax. The rate is too low at 1%. It is not too low, however, for the small men who are part of the culture and heritage - the bookies we meet on the dog and horse racing courses. They are part and parcel of that heritage and culture, as well as the fun, enjoyment and banter, something we must protect. I support the small bookies who must be supported. They employ people, pay rates and everything else.

I also challenge the Minister to do something for small racehorse owners. I am not talking about the Coolmore Stud or the big syndicates and trainers. Think about the rates charged and the small trainers who must be supported. We talk about rural proofing legislation, but we are not rural proofing anything, rather we are trying to destroy everything that is good in rural areas.

We must also look at the carry-on of the big conglomerates which I now call vulture funds. We have our own in County Tipperary which is home-grown. We have great prowess with horses and in winning races, but we must look at the wages they pay and the way they are buying and gobbling up all of the land available. They are no better than vulture funds, which is a shame. While I acknowledge their prowess with horses and in providing enjoyment, it has now gone too far.

Let me address the issue of animal cruelty which is now wholesale. I challenge Deputy Paul Murphy and all of the others who are against coursing to come and see the marauding gangs of criminals who are out today and and will be out tonight lamping. There are five, six or ten of them with five or six dogs chasing after one hare or any other animal they meet, but neither the ISPCA nor anyone else is controlling them. I invite the Deputies and others to come to the coursing meeting in Clonmel at the end of January. It is a wonderful festival which is almost upon us. It is worth approximately €6 million to Clonmel and we want to support and keep it. We want the naysayers to turn their attention to the marauding gangs. They are the ones about whom they are always talking. We know who they are. When a man meets 60 of them on a bridge in Ballycarron in Golden and takes numbers, three of them wearing balaclavas will approach him. It is time the mob was cleaned up.

It sickens me to my very being to hear Deputy Paul Murphy and others worry about greyhounds and hares when they do not mind the slaughter of innocent unborn babies. Every day of the week they are looking for abortion. I have just left the committee from where it is all coming. I am disgusted. They cannot wait to have it - save the hares and kill unborn babies. It is fairly warped thinking.

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