Paul Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to discuss this issue. I also welcome our visitors from South Carolina.

I strongly favour this motion. I record that I am a horse owner and former chairperson of the rural racetrack in Kilbeggan. I held that post for 14 years. One would be right in saying I have a vested interest. That aside, I welcome this funding. I concur with what the Minister said in his conclusion about the scrutiny this budget Vote gets annually. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine and we had a long meeting where each and every aspect of this funding was discussed with the Minister and the officials of the Department. It has also been discussed in the Dáil and now it is here for further debate. It will get plenty of further scrutiny.

As the Minister rightly said, the value of this money to our rural communities is priceless. It is impossible to actually put a value on what is gained in rural Ireland. There is an old saying that you have to speculate to accumulate. As investments go, from the perspective of the Government and that of the economy, the amount of money we are talking about investing in horse and greyhound racing is small when we look at the rewards reaped through tourism and the jobs that would not be in rural Ireland without it. I refer to the small trainers of greyhounds and horses, the farmers supplying those trainers with hay, the local co-operatives supplying the meal for the animals and the transportation to and from racecourses. When we add up all this return from this investment, it is creating a massive reward for the economy.

Having said that, there will always be issues and questions to be addressed regarding how the money is spent in both sectors. Animal welfare will always come to the fore in any debate. I welcome the Minister's statement that his officials will and do scrutinise the animal welfare policies of the HRI and RCE. The joint committee recently produced a report on issues impacting dog welfare and the entire animal welfare area.It is vitally important at this juncture that the committee's report be dealt with. We want the issue of animal welfare concerning equine, canine and all domestic animals to be treated seriously by having a debate and, indeed, receive the legislation that it so richly deserves. Sometimes we discuss animal welfare in the context of equine and canine sport animals. While it is vitally important that the highest animal welfare standards are set, there are a lot of other animals outside that sphere that are not encompassed by the HRI or RCÉ. I believe that these animals need to be included and have top quality welfare structures. We, therefore, should have a broader debate that encompasses all animals on another day. Having said that, within the two sectors that we are discussing, I welcome the improvements that have been made. I will quote an old saying by a former leader of my party. There is "A lot done. More to do".

As the Minister will be aware, the joint committee had a lot of meetings on anti-doping in horses based on media commentary and some accusations made by individuals within the sport. I am a member of the committee. It produced a comprehensive report, which has been passed on to the appropriate place, but I still have a lot of questions about anti-doping. Many questions were left unanswered and many accusations have been left hanging and never proven definitively to have been false. While I welcome the report by Dr. Suann, and the investment of the share of the money it gets from the HRI for animal welfare, we still cannot afford to take our eye off this ball. I welcome the Minister's comment that some of the conditions connected to this money being paid annually are thrashed out with the relevant bodies.

I wish to mention another issue that arose at the joint committee, and often arises in this regard, which is the volume of money that eventually is spent on prize money. There is a perception that a small number of larger owners or trainers receive the vast majority of this money. I am a small owner who is on a low rung of the ladder and I would like a lot more of the money to filter down. However, if we do not set high standards then we will not maintain our global position as standard bearers for the horse and greyhound industry. It is the top prize money that attracts owners to locate the best stallions and mares in Ireland. In any sport, competitors follow the money and I reiterate the soccer example I gave at the committee meetings. The money that is in the Premier League in England is the reason that the League of Ireland is as weak as it is in Ireland because the players, sponsors and everybody concerned follow the money. If we allow our standards to drop then our horse owners, big horse owners and our top horses will end up going to the Middle East, the UK or Australia to follow the prize money and, therefore, it is imperative that we maintain parity in respect of prize money. Things filter downwards and if we are not at the top of the industry then we will have a problem at all levels. I would like to see the Minister have an input when it comes to how the HRI distributes its money.

Two infrastructural projects that have been on the cards for a long time - the national equine centre and a second all-weather track. I would love to see some of the money filtered through to progress those two projects. The joint committee discussed the issue of anti-doping and learned that all samples must be sent off the island to be tested. It is vitally important, therefore, that we invest in a national equine centre that has laboratories thus allowing us to test samples on this island.