Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

We will be supporting this increase for this fund for both the racing and greyhound industries, although it may be slightly wrong to describe the greyhound industry in that way as it is really more of a hobby. We give this support with many qualifications. I will speak on both horse racing and greyhound racing. The first qualification is that I do not have confidence in the Irish Greyhound Board, IGB, and have not had for years. The board was before a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts attended by the Leas-Chathaoirleach and myself and it was an absolute circus. Not much has changed. Some of the same people are still there. I will mention one thing at the very outset. We did not support the Social Democrats motion last week but neither could we support the Government's countermotion because it was effectively written by the IGB, in which we do not have confidence. I have never implored the Minister but I implore him to look at the board of the IGB for us. It needs a complete overhaul. I know the Minister has a lot going on as regards Covid, Brexit and so on but the IGB needs a more hands-on approach from Government.

With regard to greyhound people, many of whom are working-class people, greyhounds are effectively their horses. These are some of the most decent and honourable people one will ever meet. There are some bad eggs who need to be removed. The comments made by a member of the board of the IGB regarding our colleague, Deputy Cairns, are absolutely disgraceful. They do not give the greyhound racing industry a good name. I presume the board and the Minister will deal with that matter. The Deputy can speak for herself but one cannot make comments like that no matter one's view on a given sector.

The issue of welfare is very important. The idea is that 10% of funding, which would be at least €1.5 million, goes towards welfare but that is not happening. Will the Minister show me that is happening? I do not compliment British authorities often but a greyhound trust needs to be set up. This should be separate from the IGB, although board members might sit on it to allow for crossover. The volume of greyhounds that needs to be rehoused is much larger than the volume spoken about. There is only one centre. I know where it is as it is in my county. There needs to be 15 to 20. That needs to be rolled out. When such centres are rolled out, people will be able to see that progress is being made in the area of greyhound welfare. That really needs to happen.

I know many people who work with greyhounds, who are active in this sector and who have put proposals to Greyhound Racing Ireland and the previous Minister that were never acted on. These proposals need to be acted on. This is a central issue. People cannot mistreat dogs. There has to be a proper welfare system in place that is funded. It is critical. Greyhound Racing Ireland gets a significant volume of funding but this does not transpire to the ordinary man and woman working in the greyhound area. That needs to be dealt with as well.

I have a range of issues relating to GRI and how it does its accounts, historical issues relating to the Indecon report and the whole issue of liquidising assets. The Minister will know about this industry. I do not want to see several racecourses getting liquidated to ensure current funding can go on. It is not good when a body is liquidising assets to fund current activities. In fact, it is awful. This needs to be dealt with.

I will say something about the horseracing industry. It is a critically important industry throughout the country. It employs many people, especially in rural Ireland, and it has tangibility in so many other sectors where other people are working. I wish to say this clearly: issues have been raising their heads. We need a sectoral employment order for people working in this industry. Too many people are not being well-paid. In some cases, they are not being treated well. They love horses and the horseracing industry. We have a good name abroad but we need to treat workers right. I implore the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to work with his colleagues in government to bring in a sectoral employment order in that sector alone to ensure all people who work in the industry are protected, paid proper wages and treated properly.

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