Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Irish ladies' soccer team on their great win last night. They did well in standing up for themselves and deserved the win.

I refer to the strike at Shelbourne Park greyhound stadium and the closure of Harold's Cross greyhound stadium. I welcome those who are present from the Greyhound Owners and Breeders Federation. I have been involved with greyhounds all my life and have bred, trained and raced them. What happened at Harold's Cross was heavy-handed. There was no judgment on the loans which were being serviced. In 2016, €15.5 million was provided for the greyhound industry and the figure this year will be €16.7 million for the greyhound and horse racing industries. There is a betting levy of 1% which was introduced a couple of years ago and raised an extra €1 million. This year it could bring in €2 million to €3 million because online betting is going through the roof owing to the use of mobile phones and other technology. Can we not tell the banks that we can do a deal? We can take the money and repay the loan. It is a legacy issue and I am not here to blame anyone for it. However, staff at Shelbourne Park greyhound stadium have been out of pocket for the past ten weeks, as are farmers, trainers and others who have expenses to meet, including bookmakers who rely for their living on racing at Shelbourne Park and Harold's Cross. Everybody is pointing the finger. The Irish Greyhound Board states it cannot do anything, as does the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. However, the race tracks at Harold's Cross and Shelbourne Park are closed. It is a disgrace. I appeal for the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to come to the House and someone to take responsibility for this issue. Somebody must do so. It is not good enough to blame somebody else. Let us do what needs to be done. It is sad to see that there will be no Easter cup and that there is a possibility this year that there could be no Irish greyhound derby. Is that not sad? Let somebody take responsibility for this issue and let us have something done.