Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Labour Party has tabled amendments to the motion. I urge Members to consider whether they can support those amendments. We need to look at how the system of funding of greyhound and horse racing is regulated.The horse and greyhound industries are supported by the State through ring-fenced statutory funding, and are among the only sports where this happens. The horse racing industry receives financial support from the State through the horse and racing fund. The payments into the fund have increased from €54 million in 2014 to €95 million proposed for 2024. That is a 76% increase in a decade. As we note in our amendments, a significant amount of this fund is used for prizes, some of which benefit the more successful people within those industries. It is interesting that the Minister said that it is actually not support but that this is an industry. I would struggle to find any other industry that has had as consistent support as these two. The prizes tend to go to the more successful people, so close to €50 million in tax-free prizes goes to some of the richest people in Ireland, not all of whom pay tax here. I do not agree that this is the best use of this fund.

Over the past number of years, there have been reports of serious animal welfare concerns in both sectors and there is a clear lack of statutory conditionality that would make any State financial support conditional on rigorous animal welfare criteria being satisfied, nor are there any conditions related to workers' rights in this Act or attached to the funding. We must have measures to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare are implemented and complied with and we must have this tied into the regulations and funding.

The greyhound and horse racing industry monetises animal suffering. I do not need to go into some of the ways that animals in this industry are being treated. We justify the killing of an innocent dog because it cannot continue to make profit for those who profit off it. Some 38 greyhounds are killed each month in this industry for overbreeding, and we also export greyhounds. We need to fix this.

I urge the Minister to take on board the amendments, or the sentiments behind them, we have tabled every year for the industry. We in the Labour Party emphasise that the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act is in urgent need of review and replacement. It has been in operation for 22 years and we urge the Minister to carry out a full independent review of the fund alongside it. We ask the Minister to have a look at how the industry is funded and determine if this is the best use of the funds to support the sector.

This amendment also has a workers' rights element. We recognise the industry is still strong, albeit declining in some communities. When we talk about the numbers employed, we also include employees such as part-time and temporary workers, which hides the fact that there are much lower numbers of workers in employment generated from this fund than otherwise. We want the Minister to accept the amendment and look at how this fund is distributed and how the rights of workers in this sector can be improved.

As it has been noted, this fund comes from a betting levy, but the revenue is only allocated to horse and greyhound industries. The distribution of this funding towards other sports areas needs to be considered. Sports such as boxing and football and other sports that are operational within inner city and urban communities look on with envy when they see how this fund is allocated every year, and the increase is 76%. We have continually noted that the funds from the betting levy only go to the horse and greyhound industries and there are many other sports that could be in need of funding from that levy.

I urge Members to support the amendment that we in the Labour Party have tabled. Motions around this fund arrive in the Oireachtas every year and we see huge increases going to both the horse and greyhound industries year on year. That is deplorable. We need to see a proper review of this funding as well as the funding extended to other sports and conditionality on animal welfare and workers' rights attached.