ON Wednesday, October 11th, the usual hush will fall over the Dail as the new Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe TD, reveals his first Budget.

September has all but flown by with Budget Day now less than 20 days away.

The Irish Sport Horse industry is still awaiting the release of both the UCD Report and the report by economist Jim Power, both of which were mooted to be released by mid September.

Efforts by Irish Horse World to pin down a date for either report’s release this week did not get far, met with silence on one hand and a polite “no update’’ on the other.

Time, however, as they say, waits for no man and the clock is well and truly ticking now.

In the absence of either report, we did a little research of our own, undertaking a simple yardstick comparison between the Irish Greyhound industry and the Sport Horse industry.

Available figures taken from a 2010 report – actually compiled by economist Jim Power – show that some 10,300 people employed full and part-time in the greyhounds, generating a tax spin-off per annum of €21m to the Exchequer. The 17 tracks operated by the semi-state Bord na gCon nationwide contribute greatly to their local economy, with events like Clonmel coursing bringing an estimated €15m to that region alone.

No updated definitive overall contribution figure to the Irish economy could be easily determined.

Under an 80/20 split from the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, the Irish Greyhound industry received €16m in 2017, up from just over €11m in 2013.

By comparison, the Irish Sport Horse industry is worth €700m to the Irish economy, according to the Reaching New Heights Report and employs over 13,000 people full-time alone, and thousands more part-time.

It’s worth twice as much to the Irish economy as the €300m sheep sector.

In the same timeframe, Horse Sport Ireland received just over €4m in public funding for 2017 – €4.067m to be exact.

No prizes accompany these figures.

High time now to release our own dog out of the Budget Trap.