Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent)

After years and years of similar discussion and similar points that have been made again and again, this year I did not put in the amendments I usually put in, which are usually blocked. The concerns are in fact deepening, however. I was looking back at all the times we have spoken on this and all the times we have raised it. I was looking at the deterioration in some of the areas where we should have seen improvements. I want to first briefly say that the fundamental piece, something we have called for year after year, is that what needs to happen is a separation. We need to be having separate discussions about Horse Racing Ireland and the greyhound industry. It actually does a great disservice to Horse Racing Ireland and the horse racing industry that every year the debate about it ends up focusing largely on the issue of animal welfare abuses and poor practices in the greyhound industry, which is effectively hiding within the same fund. Let us separate them out and have honest discussions on both. Let us look at this funding in a separate way and have it as two separate funds that have to be tested and debated and, where necessary, challenged on their own merits.There are questions, issues and areas for improvement within the horse racing funding we have in Ireland. The Minister outlined the significant profit and the major wins, but how much of that profit is going to smaller numbers at the top? I know there is employment, which is great to see, but we also know that, for example, the betting industry profits very significantly from the activities that are subsidised and supported by the State through Horse Racing Ireland. We also know there are issues in relation to welfare, but also in terms of how other horse practices in Ireland are supported or not.

In the time I have today, I am going to focus, as others have and as I have here year after year, on the greyhound industry. The greyhound industry is not popular. It is not widely supported by the public. It is not an inherently profitable industry. It is an industry riddled with flaws and poor practices that we have failed to address again and again.

The Minister launched a new animal welfare strategy yesterday.