STATE funding for the racing industry was approved by Dáil Eireann this week but not before numerous left-leaning politicians spoke in opposition of the motion proposed by the Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon.

In the recent Budget, an allocation of €99.1 million was made for the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund. This is to be distributed in accordance with the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001, with 80%, or €79.3 million, going to Horse Racing Ireland and 20%, equating to €19.8 million, going to the greyhound racing industry.

Of the 18 TDs who voted against the funding, eight were from Labour, six were Social Democrats, two were members of People Before Profit-Solidarity.

The sole Green Party TD and one independent from a Dublin constituency also voted against the motion.

Led by Jennifer Whitmore, the Social Democrats opposed the funding primarily over concerns relating to greyhound welfare. These concerns were echoed by Green Party TD Roderic O’Gorman.

Ruth Coppinger of People Before Profit said that horse racing was “endemically linked with gambling, which is a real scourge and an addiction” while her colleague Paul Murphy said: “The horse racing owners are a who’s who of the richest people in this country. The Department of Agriculture itself allows that €75 million of this money, over three quarters, can go into prize money.”

Cork TD Michael Collins (Independent Ireland) spoke in favour of the motion and highlighted the economic contribution of the equine industry around the country.

Peter ‘Chap’ Cleere, a Fianna Fail TD from Carlow-Kilkenny, said: “The only difficulty I have with it is that I wish an awful lot more money was being put into the greyhound and horse racing industries.

“I have never heard as much horse manure in my life than what I heard from some of the previous speakers who obviously do not have a clue about rural Ireland.

“I also take the opportunity here to acknowledge the significant contribution Gowran Park racecourse, led by its general manager Eddie Scally, makes to the local economy and community. It is one of Ireland’s leading racecourses and it boasts Thyestes Day and Red Mills Day as two of its marquee events..”

Mattie McGrath, Independent TD for Tipperary South, made similar remarks, as did Kerry independent Danny Healy-Rae.

Michael Cahill, a Kerry Fianna Fail TD, also spoke in favour of supporting racing and asked about funding for pony racing.

“I wish to raise the issue of horse and pony association funding,” he said. “It was stopped two years ago. It was getting €80,000. There are 26 meetings nationally. This is where all our great jockeys start off, the likes of Paul Townend, Ruby Walsh and Jack Kennedy. There are 26 meetings nationally and they should be helped out and provided for. We are providing big funding to the association and I believe €80,000 is a small amount of money in the overall funding context. We should be supporting it. It brings big crowds to these smaller areas, such as the Dingle races.”

An amendment proposed by the Labour Party’s Duncan Smith (Fingal East TD) to have the funding model for horse and greyhound racing comprehensively reviewed by an independent body was roundly defeated.

The amendment said: a significant amount of the Fund is used for prizes, which seems to benefit those who are most successful, and no independent economic or social impact analysis has been carried out to determine the best use of this resource.”

Duncan Smith commented: “This is the fourth year we have sought this. We know both horse racing and greyhound breeding support jobs and rural communities in particular and has a heritage in many areas and families. As I mentioned, that is not lost on us. However, we know there are significant animal welfare issues across both codes.”