THE Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney is bullish about the prospects for the Irish racing and breeding sector and is predicting growth in employment of a third in the coming years.

Speaking as the guest of honour at the HRI awards in Leopardstown, he told the audience that “there are 15,000 people in employment now and it can expand back up to 20,000, which is what we had in the so-called good times.”