Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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535. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if Section 12 (4) of the Horse and Greyhound Act 2001 has been amended since the Act was passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas. [22749/23]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Section 12 (4) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001 states that “The Minister shall pay into the Fund out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas, in the year 2002 and in each subsequent year, an amount, determined by the Revenue Commissioners, equivalent to the revenue from excise duty on off-course betting paid into the Exchequer in the preceding year or the year 2000 increased by reference to the Consumer Price Index, whichever is the greater.”

The initial funding model for the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund provided that the Fund would each year be financed by an amount equal to the revenue from excise duty on off-course betting in the preceding year or the year 2000 increased by reference to the Consumer Price Index, whichever was greater (section 12(4) of the Act). This formula applied for the years 2001-2008.

While Section 12 (4) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act has not been amended, since 2009 the decision on the proposed annual amount to be allocated to the Fund is made in the context of the budgetary process (estimates allocation). Once the budget is announced, the proposed allocation must be formalised by Regulation. There are currently no plans to change this process.