Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Before I begin, I send the best wishes of the Labour Party to Deputy Jennifer Whitmore.

Last night's "Prime Time Investigates" exposed some shocking practices in the Irish horse racing industry focusing on how horses, most of them racing thoroughbreds, are treated in the final period of their lives. After a life which many of them spent in the public spotlight being worked, they then enter what appears to be a very murky chain. It is nearly 150 years since Anna Sewell wrote Black Beauty about the appalling treatment of horses in Victorian England. Yet here we are again with serious questions to be asked about what happens when a horse is retired with traceability issues for up to 20,000 animals a year. There was a famous ad once in Ireland asking "who is taking the horse to France?". This scandal shows that we still do not know and we do not who is watching them.

This sector receives gigantic levels of funding from the Exchequer through a ring-fenced statutory fund. We now have a clear sense of the murky and illegal practices that are going on. Our eyes should have been opened when the horsemeat scandal exploded in 2013. Now we have evidence of alleged illegal activity at the one processing plant in Kildare with microchips being inserted into horses to create false identities. The system is clearly broken and being abused, all under the nose of the Department of agriculture. The safety of the human food chain is not being taken seriously. The only conclusion to be drawn from using false microchips and spray paint to change the hair colour is that these animals would not pass otherwise. Human health is being put at risk and horses are being abused.

We recognise that the Horse and Greyhound Fund supports thousands of jobs in the sector, many of which are critical to the rural economy. However, we must demand the highest standards - standards that are nowhere near being met. What has emerged is a major reputational blow again for Ireland and it calls into question the ongoing approach of the Government to protect the status quo. Over the last two years the Labour Party has tabled amendments to the horse and greyhound regulation. We have asked for a full independent review to see how best to support these sectors, those involved in it and the rural communities it supports, but also critically how the highest standards of animal welfare are implemented and complied with.

What emerged last night raises serious questions for the Department of agriculture and for Horse Racing Ireland which appear to be asleep at the wheel. If RTÉ had not carried out its investigation would anything have been exposed or changed and what would be happening in that abattoir today? We have also called for review to look at how the rights of workers in the sector can be improved and the need for a sectoral employment order to set minimum rates of pay and conditions. Low rates of pay and insecure work leave people vulnerable to unscrupulous practices and pressure to turn a blind eye to what is going on. What will be done to once and for all stamp out illegal practices that have again been uncovered in the horse sector? Will animals be allowed to continue down to Shannonside Foods until we are certain these practices are not ongoing? Are animals going in there today? Does the Minister believe the Department of agriculture and Horse Racing Ireland are fit for purpose? Does he now concede that there must be a review of the Horse and Greyhound Fund including animal welfare practices?

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