Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Rather than being provoked into a response to Senator John Paul Phelan, Senator Mansergh should be aware that the inveterate love between Kilkenny and Tipperary probably motivated some of Senator Phelan's comments about Coolmore's success. The difficulty for a Kilkenny man to acknowledge Tipperary's success should never be underestimated, and vice versa.

With regard to the position of Senator McDowell's party, despite Deputy Burton's contentions to the contrary, my decision was not motivated by the fact that some have been seeking to remove this relief with a zeal I have often found difficult to comprehend, given the undoubted benefits that have derived to Ireland Inc. as a result of the development of the horse breeding industry in this country, and the tax exemption for stallion fees was no small contributor to that. It was simply because the EU Commission, having received a complaint about this relief three years ago, investigated it and discussed it with the Irish authorities, who tried to explain the various points in favour of this industry in terms of its widespread benefits for not just a small number of talented, world class leaders in the industry but for the many more throughout rural Ireland who have been provided with a family income. This is evident in the number of other stallions available and standing elsewhere, the number of mares that are brought here to stay and foal and the thousands who work in the racing industry. People should not underestimate the tremendous success of racing.

I also had to eliminate the exemption for stud fees for greyhounds, the poor man's horse. My family has had a close association with the greyhound industry for many years so my late father would not be too happy with me if he were alive to see it removed. In fairness, it was introduced by former Deputy and Minister for Agriculture, Ivan Yates, at the instigation of Bord na gCon. We have seen the tremendous success which that industry has enjoyed. It is one of the really great successes for a semi-State body in recent years, matching the excellence of the horse breeding and horse racing industry.