Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the hard-working Minister. I am in favour of the motion he has brought before us. Coming from Mullingar, I have a lot of links and a strong relationship with horse racing and dog racing in particular. We have a track at Kilbeggan, as Senator Paul Daly mentioned. He has been heavily involved with it over the years. Navan is only up the road and Tullamore is a bit further on from Kilbeggan. I have had great days out and great occasions. I have great friends involved in all these areas and I wish them continued success.

We strive to achieve success and the highest standards. We must weed out the few bad apples. That is extremely important. I agree with Senator Higgins. The surgical insemination procedure is under review. It belongs to a bygone era. I attend dog racing tracks four or five times a year and I have not heard of that procedure in years. I can say that with my hand on my heart. My learned friend here tells me that the procedure is done in less than one in 1,000 cases. It happens in an extremely small number of cases. While I suggest it is a red herring, it is not to be ignored. I agree with my learned friend. I am sure the Minister will come back to us when the review has been carried out.

Nowhere compares to Ireland for thoroughbred racing, in particular for dogs and also horses. The money they bring to Ireland through tourism is second to none. Likewise, the entertainment is second to none. It is one of our biggest tourism industries. The figures speak for themselves. I have listened to a lot of my learned friends who have stated the figures already.

I asked one of the learned Senators who was talking about this the other day when was the last time they were at a racetrack. It was an extremely long time ago.I encourage Members to come to a race meeting and see how trainers and owners treat and mind and are so anxious about their livestock, their animals and thoroughbreds - dogs and horses. I would be delighted to welcome any Members to Mullingar, Shelbourne Park down the road from here if it suits better, or Dundalk racecourse. They are all fabulous facilities. The care these people go to is evident.

I agree with Senator Paul Daly about the funding. I am disappointed there is not more funding in the Minister's envelope. As Senator Daly said, nothing sits still. As we know, the cost of feed and many different resources have gone up over the last while, including power, manpower and everything else. I listened intently to the whole vibe of this conversation and some good points were made which I agree with. I wholeheartedly agree that nobody wants to see cruelty to any animal. No owner or trainer, as far as I have seen in my lifetime, has inflicted that. There are red herrings and there is the odd bad apple but that is it, in my experience. Who would go out and pay thousands of euro for a horse and then give it to a trainer who is going to abuse it? It would make no sense. An animal is not going to perform if it is not being looked after in good conditions. I would be fair and never criticise any other party or anyone else here in this House. I do not have a record of doing so. I am curious, though. Under Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats and some Independents, whom I have listened to intently, where is this leading to? Is it leading to there being no dog races? Are we going to look at King Charles spaniels and Maltese being run outside latte houses or something? What version do we get to? It seems clear to me that dog racing is a no-no and they want it banned. That is what my friends are telling me here. In regard to horse races, it seems like the only horse race we would see is on a carousel somewhere. I disagree with that totally. The fundamental heart, spirit and culture of Ireland disagrees with that.