Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am having a mental image of the Leader, Senator Cummins, in his short communion pants marching up with his stilling to the tote at Tramore races.

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Hayes, and the proposal before us. For once, I am in disagreement with my colleague Senator Barrett in that the record will clearly show that every punt, euro, shilling or cent invested in the Irish horse racing industry has benefited the taxpayer and the economy in general tenfold. We are speaking not about a sport but about one of our greatest natural industries and resources. Any support which we can give to it should be provided.

We all look forward to the introduction of the Betting (Amendment) Bill, which will address issues such as how moneys should be allocated. I look forward to participating in the debate on that Bill. While as I said earlier I welcome this proposal I ask the Minister of State to reflect on a central problem in this area which has been mentioned in all of the reports and recommendations referred to but with which we have failed to come to grips, namely, the continuing decline in attendance at race meetings. This is a substantial problem. The demographic profile of racegoers is, to put it mildly, becoming more mature. We need to put in place measures and supports to encourage more people to attend horse and greyhound racing. The greyhound industry may be more successful in this regard in that it is easier to sell food and so on at greyhound races. The horse racing industry must be supported but must also lead in the efforts to encourage more people to the tracks.

Senator Barrett referred to the under-utilisation of racecourses in terms of their being only used ten or 15 times a year. We need a plan to encourage people to return to race meetings. While watching horse racing on Sky Sports and the racing channel is very effective we also need punters at the tracks. We do not want to end up like Australia and America where racing is all television and tote based. I hope that the Minister of State will instigate initiatives to encourage greater attendance at our racecourses.