Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

178. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 354 and 359 of 14 November 2017, his views on the fact that public funds are channelled to hunt clubs via Horse Racing Ireland's point to point grants in view of the fact that Horse Racing Ireland receives public funding through the Horse and Greyhound fund administered by his Department. [51294/17]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

179. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his views on the fact that public funds are channelled to hunt clubs via Horse Racing Ireland to meet the cost of providing doctors at each point to point a cost which was previously borne by point to point organisers. [51295/17]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 178 and 179 together.

Horse Racing Ireland is a commercial state body responsible for the overall administration, promotion and development of the horse racing industry. The Point to Point sector is the backbone of national hunt racing in Ireland and acts as a nursery for the development of horses, riders and trainers. 

Approximately 115 Point to Points are staged annually throughout the island of Ireland and these are organised and run by hunt clubs.  They are community based events with much voluntary input going into the staging of the meetings.  While they have less formality than on track racing, Point to Points are highly competitive and serve as an important shop window for trade in national hunt horses.  In particular they are a strong source of equine exports to Great Britain. 

Horse Racing Ireland provides funding annually to Point to Point racing of circa €2.1m which comprises grants to Hunt Clubs to assist with the cost of staging these meetings (€678k), grants for prize money at Point to Points (€688k) and grants to the INHS Committee of the Turf Club to cover the regulation of Point to Points (€714k). 

The recently published Deloitte Report estimated the expenditure associated with Point to Points at circa €37m per annum and that during the 2015 / 2016 racing season in Ireland and Britain, 1,127 races were won by graduates of the Irish Point to Point sector.

From 2017, the funding provided to the Turf Club / INHS Committee for Point to Points includes the cost of providing one suitably qualified medical officer at every Point to Point.  This is to ensure that the appropriate level of care and attention is available for riders in the event of injury.