Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2022: Motion (Resumed)

The following motion was moved by Deputy Charlie McConalogue on Wednesday, 30 November 2022:

That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:

Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2022,

copies of which were laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on the 13th October, 2022.

Debate resumed on amendment No. 2:

To insert the following after "13th October, 2022":

"; that the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine shall:

— conduct a full review of the Exchequer funding to the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund (Fund) with a view to examining:

— the social and economic impact of the Fund, including the efficacy of the Fund in supporting the development of both sectors, the broadest cohort of those involved in both sectors and rural communities;

— whether the use of the Fund to subsidise prize funds represents best value for money; and

— the efficacy of the Fund in ensuring the highest levels of animal welfare standards; and

— report to Dáil Éireann within six months of these Regulations being adopted on the findings of the review".

- (Deputy Matt Carthy)

An Leas-Cheann Comhairle

I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion on the proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2022. On Wednesday, 30 November 2022, on the question, "That the amendment to the motion be agreed to", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 80(2), that division must be taken now.

Amendment put:

The Dáil divided: Tá, 40; Níl, 86; Staon, 0.

Tá

Andrews, Chris.
Bacik, Ivana.
Brady, John.
Browne, Martin.
Buckley, Pat.
Carthy, Matt.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Cronin, Réada.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Pa.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Gould, Thomas.
Howlin, Brendan.
Kelly, Alan.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Verona.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
Naughten, Denis.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Patricia.
Sherlock, Sean.
Smith, Duncan.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Tully, Pauline.
Ward, Mark.

Níl

Barry, Mick.
Berry, Cathal.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Cairns, Holly.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carey, Joe.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Collins, Michael.
Collins, Niall.
Costello, Patrick.
Coveney, Simon.
Cowen, Barry.
Creed, Michael.
Crowe, Cathal.
Devlin, Cormac.
Dillon, Alan.
Donnelly, Stephen.
Duffy, Francis Noel.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frankie.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Flaherty, Joe.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Gannon, Gary.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Seán.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Hourigan, Neasa.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kehoe, Paul.
Kenny, Gino.
Lawless, James.
Leddin, Brian.
Lowry, Michael.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Matthews, Steven.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McGrath, Mattie.
McHugh, Joe.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Paul.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Noonan, Malcolm.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Brien, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connor, James.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Dowd, Fergus.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Richmond, Neale.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Smyth, Ossian.
Stanton, David.
Troy, Robert.
Whitmore, Jennifer.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Denise Mitchell; Níl, Deputies Jack Chambers and Brendan Griffin.

Amendment declared lost.

Deputy Duncan Smith

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "That Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"notes that:

— while it is acknowledged that the horse and greyhound racing sectors do not qualify for sports capital funding, they are unique in Irish sport in that they are supported by the State through their own ring-fenced statutory fund;

— payments into the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund (Fund) have increased from €55 million in 2013 up to the €91 million proposed for 2023, an increase of over 65 per cent in a decade, with the proposed payment for 2023 an increase of a further €3 million over 2022;

— there is a question as to the continuing appropriateness of the indexation formula that is intended to provide a floor for Exchequer payments into the Fund, linked to receipts from excise duty on off-course betting;

— up to 2009 the statutory indexation formula was followed, the Minister for Finance has confirmed the formula was abandoned in 2009, without enabling change to the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001, and the approach since then has been for a unilateral decision by the Government on the amount to be provided to the Fund in each year;

— 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; and

— although in the intervening years there have been reports of serious animal welfare concerns in both sectors, there is a lack of clear statutory conditionality that would make any State financial support conditional on rigorous animal welfare criteria being satisfied, nor are any conditions related to workers' rights in the sector attached to the funding;

believes therefore that the funding model under section 12 of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001 is in urgent need of review and replacement, and calls on the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to carry out such a full and independent review of the Fund, including in particular with recommendations on:

— how best to support these sectors, those involved in it, and rural communities;

— measures needed to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare are implemented and complied with;

— how the rights of workers in the sector can be improved and an employment regulation order introduced to set minimum rates of pay and conditions; and

— whether and how funding for these sectors and other sports should be aligned,

to be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas within six months, with the amended legislation being in place before the anticipated date of any further presentation of draft regulations under this section for the approval of the Houses, and

approves the following Regulations in draft:

Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2022,

copies of which were laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on the 13th October, 2022.".

Amendment put:

The Dáil divided: Tá, 39; Níl, 88; Staon, 0.

Tá

Andrews, Chris.
Bacik, Ivana.
Brady, John.
Browne, Martin.
Buckley, Pat.
Carthy, Matt.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Cronin, Réada.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Pa.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Gould, Thomas.
Howlin, Brendan.
Kelly, Alan.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Verona.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Patricia.
Sherlock, Sean.
Smith, Duncan.
Stanley, Brian.
Tóibín, Peadar.
Tully, Pauline.
Ward, Mark.

Níl

Barry, Mick.
Berry, Cathal.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Cairns, Holly.
Canney, Seán.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carey, Joe.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Collins, Michael.
Collins, Niall.
Costello, Patrick.
Coveney, Simon.
Cowen, Barry.
Creed, Michael.
Crowe, Cathal.
Devlin, Cormac.
Dillon, Alan.
Donnelly, Stephen.
Duffy, Francis Noel.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frankie.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Flaherty, Joe.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Gannon, Gary.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Seán.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Hourigan, Neasa.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kehoe, Paul.
Kenny, Gino.
Lawless, James.
Leddin, Brian.
Lowry, Michael.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Matthews, Steven.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McGrath, Mattie.
McHugh, Joe.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Paul.
Naughten, Denis.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Noonan, Malcolm.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Brien, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connor, James.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Dowd, Fergus.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Richmond, Neale.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Brendan.
Smith, Bríd.
Smyth, Niamh.
Smyth, Ossian.
Stanton, David.
Troy, Robert.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Alan Kelly and Duncan Smith; Níl, Deputies Jack Chambers and Brendan Griffin.

Amendment declared lost.

Question put: "That the motion be agreed to."

The Dáil divided: Tá, 82; Níl, 44; Staon, 0.

Tá

Berry, Cathal.
Brophy, Colm.
Browne, James.
Bruton, Richard.
Burke, Colm.
Burke, Peter.
Butler, Mary.
Byrne, Thomas.
Cahill, Jackie.
Canney, Seán.
Cannon, Ciarán.
Carey, Joe.
Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
Chambers, Jack.
Collins, Michael.
Collins, Niall.
Costello, Patrick.
Coveney, Simon.
Cowen, Barry.
Creed, Michael.
Crowe, Cathal.
Devlin, Cormac.
Dillon, Alan.
Donnelly, Stephen.
Duffy, Francis Noel.
Durkan, Bernard J.
English, Damien.
Farrell, Alan.
Feighan, Frankie.
Fitzmaurice, Michael.
Flaherty, Joe.
Flanagan, Charles.
Fleming, Sean.
Foley, Norma.
Griffin, Brendan.
Harris, Simon.
Haughey, Seán.
Heydon, Martin.
Higgins, Emer.
Hourigan, Neasa.
Humphreys, Heather.
Kehoe, Paul.
Kelly, Alan.
Lawless, James.
Leddin, Brian.
Lowry, Michael.
Madigan, Josepha.
Martin, Catherine.
Matthews, Steven.
McAuliffe, Paul.
McConalogue, Charlie.
McGrath, Mattie.
McHugh, Joe.
Moynihan, Aindrias.
Moynihan, Michael.
Murphy, Verona.
Naughten, Denis.
Naughton, Hildegarde.
Noonan, Malcolm.
O'Brien, Darragh.
O'Brien, Joe.
O'Callaghan, Jim.
O'Connor, James.
O'Donnell, Kieran.
O'Donoghue, Richard.
O'Donovan, Patrick.
O'Dowd, Fergus.
O'Sullivan, Christopher.
O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
Ó Cathasaigh, Marc.
Ó Cuív, Éamon.
Phelan, John Paul.
Rabbitte, Anne.
Richmond, Neale.
Ring, Michael.
Ryan, Eamon.
Sherlock, Sean.
Smith, Brendan.
Smyth, Niamh.
Smyth, Ossian.
Stanton, David.
Troy, Robert.

Níl

Andrews, Chris.
Bacik, Ivana.
Barry, Mick.
Brady, John.
Browne, Martin.
Buckley, Pat.
Cairns, Holly.
Carthy, Matt.
Conway-Walsh, Rose.
Cronin, Réada.
Cullinane, David.
Daly, Pa.
Doherty, Pearse.
Donnelly, Paul.
Ellis, Dessie.
Funchion, Kathleen.
Gannon, Gary.
Gould, Thomas.
Howlin, Brendan.
Kenny, Gino.
Kenny, Martin.
Kerrane, Claire.
Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
Mitchell, Denise.
Munster, Imelda.
Murphy, Catherine.
Murphy, Paul.
Mythen, Johnny.
Nash, Ged.
O'Callaghan, Cian.
O'Reilly, Louise.
O'Rourke, Darren.
Ó Broin, Eoin.
Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
Ó Ríordáin, Aodhán.
Quinlivan, Maurice.
Ryan, Patricia.
Shortall, Róisín.
Smith, Bríd.
Smith, Duncan.
Stanley, Brian.
Tully, Pauline.
Ward, Mark.

Staon

Tellers: Tá, Deputies Jack Chambers and Brendan Griffin; Níl, Deputies Holly Cairns and Paul Murphy.

Question declared carried.

Cuireadh an Dáil ar athló ar 9.12 p.m. go dtí 8.54 a.m., Déardaoin, an 1 Nollaig 2022.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.12 p.m. until 8.54 a.m. on Thursday, 1 December 2022.

Dáil Éireann debate - Wednesday, 30 Nov 2022