Mark Wall (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Acting Chairperson for the build-up. Being from Kildare, I am acutely aware of the importance of the horse racing industry to the county. It is not known as the Thoroughbred County for nothing. A 2019 Deloitte report on the economic benefit of breeding and racing in Kildare found that almost 5,000 people were employed in the county in direct and secondary employment and the industry was worth in the region of €421 million to the county, with €79 million in bloodstock sales by vendors there. One can quickly get a picture of the importance of horse racing to County Kildare. Almost 230,000 people attended the 55 race meetings in the county that year. The potential for tourism and the current benefit that the three tracks in the county bring are obviously worth noting. The investments in the three tracks - The Curragh, Punchestown and Naas - have brought further economic benefit to the county.

In the past three months, I attended two very positive tourism gatherings intended to build on and promote the potential of this industry in the county where I live. Most recently, I joined the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, at the beautiful Kilkea Castle, near Castledermot, where the potential of developing those numbers coming to Kildare for the sport were discussed and advanced. A couple of weeks prior to that, I attended the magnificent Irish National Stud in Kildare town, which, in itself, attracts almost 150,000 people each yea, for the launch of the Thoroughbred Country Destination Development Plan, a five-year plan between Tipperary and Kildare county councils and a number of other agencies. The overarching objective of this new plan is to increase the benefit of tourism to the area. Kildare has new and established tourist experiences that horse racing, from the training yards to the three racetracks I previously mentioned, can and will complement. Horse racing can also create further employment.

Of course, in an area of smaller rural towns, villages and parishes, such as south Kildare, many people are involved in the greyhound racing industry and care passionately about the care of their animals. In many families, this is a tradition handed down through generations. It is, however, important to acknowledge that both industries involved in this fund have had serious welfare issues and it is critical that the 10% ring-fenced in 2021 for welfare initiatives gets to those on the ground who are doing so much. Indeed, I believe a higher percentage should be allocated in future from the fund. We are all aware of the support groups and charities that struggle each year with funding. That should not be the case and it is an area on which I would like to further debate. We should do more work in the Houses of the Oireachtas to address that issue.

In my remaining time, I will raise an issue that myself and others have raised on numerous occasions, that is, problem gambling. I again put on record my support for the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, for his work in publishing the gambling regulation Bill. It is an important step forward and one that must be acted upon. There are many who enjoy a day at the races or a night at the dogs, but there are also, unfortunately, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 people in this country who cannot enjoy those experiences because they cannot control their habit. Of course, I say "estimated" because we really do not know what the true public health figure in this country is for those who have a problem. I have tabled a Bill to eliminate gambling advertising. I am sure we can all agree that the proliferation of advertisements on our TV screens and media is totally and utterly unacceptable. To paraphrase the words of those who advertise on behalf of the gambling industry, those who cannot stop when the fun stops are the people who need our urgent help. The cost of not addressing this problem is often, for many, the loss of a job, the break-up of a relationship and a family, or even, in some desperate and sad cases, the ending of a life. We must use the opportunity of this gambling Bill and the creation of a gambling regulator to address the uncontrolled use of ads to begin to address and solve the problem. The Minister needs to work with his colleagues throughout the House and ensure we get the gambling Bill enacted as early as possible in the new year. It must not remain on the shelf, as the previous Bill did. The Government surely cannot allow that to happen. I, for one, will be doing everything in my power to ensure this is addressed for the sake of those 40,000 or 50,000 people in this country.