Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate and I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Doyle, who I know is committed in this area. I commend him on bringing forward comprehensive legislation for the governance of the greyhound industry in Ireland. In his speech, he covered in detail all of the sections of the Bill with regard to animal welfare, traceability and regulation. It is all leading to the modernisation and the renewal of the greyhound industry in Ireland. I am a greyhound owner, and have been all my life, as have my family with track and coursing greyhounds. It is in the interest of owners and trainers to see a strong industry. That is important. Ireland has a world-class industry, where the standard of greyhound produced from here is recognised right around the world. Not only do we race them in Ireland, we have also exported top-class greyhounds to the UK, Australia and other locations around the world. To me, this says we are doing something right. There have been some issues, which I will speak about briefly, and there have been some legacy problems in the industry but we should recognise the world-class ability of breeders and trainers to produce top-class greyhounds for Ireland and the world. As has been pointed out by the economist Mr. Jim Power, the industry leads to more than 5,000 jobs in the Irish economy and it contributes some €300 million in economic benefits to the State. Jim Power is a Waterford man, like myself, and he comes from a traditional greyhound area in Glenaphouca, Whitestown, Clonea Power. I come from the neighbouring parish in Portlaw where the Droopys Stud is run by the Dunphy family. This is a world-recognised breeding establishment in Ballyvalican, Portlaw, where top-class greyhounds come from. I want to recognise that it is not all bad news. We often hear the media headlines about the bad news about the greyhound industry but it is important to put on record the positive news that world-class greyhounds are produced in Ireland by Irish people from our own communities.

I referred to the legacy issues. We have had doping scandals in the greyhound industry and this issue needs to be rooted out. We need to restore the integrity and the confidence to the sector. We have had governance issues where substantial debt was being raised and where taxpayers' money might not have been spent in the most effective or efficient way possible. We have also had animal welfare issues in the greyhound industry. This Bill presents a real opportunity for renewal in this area. I wish the new chairman of the Irish Greyhound Board, Mr. Frank Nyhan, well and I wish the new chief executive officer of the board Mr. Gerard Dollard well. I also wish the Minister of State well in this regard. There is a new strategic plan and it has been well consulted. It is ambitious for the industry and will mean change and reform but along with the Bill, this will present opportunities to strengthen the industry.

On governance, the Bill provides for an increase in the board numbers from six to eight members, and that the chairman can only stay for a maximum of a five-year term, which I believe is good. Any member will only be able to spend two maximum terms on the board. This measure will bring motivation and a sense of renewal to the board in how it governs, which is important. This board is responsible for proper governance, oversight and accountability in the Irish greyhound industry.

I welcome Senator Paul Daly's earlier comments on Fianna Fáil support for the budget. I also support the horse and greyhound fund, which is now seeing incremental increases and it is back to €16.8 million for 2019. I support this horse and greyhound fund on behalf of the Fine Gael party. It is important. It has been an easy target for some populist parties in the past when they have tried to reduce that fund. We have, however, heard of the economic benefits of this to the area. While the sale of the Harold's Cross stadium was controversial, it has produced a surplus of €6 million that needs to be invested in resolving debt and invested in sustaining the future of the greyhound industry.

The owners and the trainers are the foundation of the industry. The breeders and the racegoers need to be supported. I come from Waterford, which has a very traditional track in Kilcohan Park. It has had its challenges. I put it to the Minister of State, to the Department officials, to the board members and to all of those in authority in the greyhound industry, to visit the tracks, attend a night's racing, meet the stakeholders, the trainers, the breeders and the regular racegoers. These are the people who support the industry and the way to connect and engage with them is to listen to them. This is how we will identify ways - such as in the strategic plan - to sustain the greyhound industry. This is something I want to support. We need to represent the social side of the sport to the Irish public. People enjoy a good night racing at the greyhounds. We have some excellent calendar dates: the Derby Final at Shelbourne Park; the St. Leger in Limerick; the Laurels in Cork; and the Red Mills Waterford Masters. These are all excellent race nights out for any racegoer and we need to encourage more of that and support the industry. The Minister of State's Bill will go a long way in trying to develop that.