Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I will focus on the proposed funding for the greyhound industry. The proposal before us provides €91 million to the horse and greyhound racing fund with €18.2 million of this to go to the greyhound industry. You cannot have a greyhound racing industry without animal cruelty. There is loads of information to back that up. Speakers have said that a minority is against the industry. It is a lot more than a minority. It is a very strong opinion within Irish society. Attendances at the stadia are falling very significantly. This money is being used to prop up the industry.

What could €18.2 million be spent on? Funding for combatting gender-based violence and for shelters and so on could be increased by more than a third. Some 466 nurses could be hired at the starting salary or 50 new hospital beds could be provided. These are much better ways to spend the money.

The Green Party's animal welfare policy, published in 2019, just before the election, states "The Green Party seeks to cease the use of state funding for Greyhound racing and re-purpose a portion of this budget allocation towards the welfare and re-homing of Greyhounds impacted by such a change." It is amazing the change that can come over the Green Party when it gets a few ministerial seats. Is it Mercedes or bicycles its Ministers get? We will be watching very carefully how Green Party Deputies vote on this.

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