Denis Landy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. My party will support this funding. I acknowledge the number of jobs that are created through the horse industry and greyhound industry. While some people feel it is an opportunity for buying champagne in luxurious bars, as someone from a rural area, I recognise that it is an opportunity for people who may not get employment in their own areas to be employed. I am surrounded by dog breeders, owners and trainers as well as horse breeders, owners and trainers in Tipperary. Every day I see young people who have been able to stay and work in their own communities. Some of them have broken out into training dogs or horses. They have gainful employment, participate in their communities. They are around to play GAA, soccer and other sports in their communities and make up teams.

I do not live in a parallel universe. I am surprised at our Sinn Féin colleague. I am quite friendly with many Sinn Féin people who are involved in the dog industry and who are looking for the Bill the Minister of State mentioned and which I hope he will steer through. The Minister of State referred to a report from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine last January. The Minister of State, as Chairman of that committee, guided that through the committee during 2015, when I also sat on the committee.

I do not pretend there are no problems in the greyhound industry; there are many problems there. There are problems with governance, integrity, substance misuse, semen control and stud control as well as many other problems. The report broadcast over four or five days on RTE's "Drive Time" programme highlighted the problems. Cutting of the supply of money to the people in the industry who are trying to tidy this up and make a proper living from it and bring integrity back will not solve these problems. It will be done by introducing legislation as we intend to do. I do not speak as a Government Member but as somebody from the Opposition who has an interest in this. I have had many discussions with the Minister of State and I know he intends to do it. We will have one opportunity to do it, starting immediately after Christmas. We need to get this right because the industry is dying on its feet. As I said on radio the other day, if we do not get it right and bring the confidence back into the industry, it will die.

The horseracing industry had the same problems. We need to remember that the people working in that industry are represented by associations, such as the Irish Stable Staff Association, Irish Injured Jockeys and the Irish Racehorse Trainers Association. All those people have organisations within the horseracing business to stand up for them and to speak for them. It is not as though people are downtrodden. I have frequently raised the entitlement of members of the Irish Stable Staff Association to proper wages, etc., and that is moving along. However, cutting off the supply of funding for the industry would not solve anything and would put more people on the dole. We will be supporting the legislation.