Paul Murphy condemns €100m state funding for racing
Paul Murphy criticised a proposed €100 million payment to the horse and greyhound racing industry, arguing most of the money becomes tax-free prize money for wealthy owners rather than funding welfare or addiction responses. He opposed the allocation, highlighted greyhound welfare failures and raised industry scandals from recent years.
Paul Murphy said the package under consideration totals €100 million this year, with about €20 million for greyhound racing and about €80 million for horse racing. He contrasted that sum with the funding for Sport Ireland and said it is more than three times the core funding given to the 87 different sports bodies in the country.
He said the Department of Agriculture allows up to €75 million to be used for prize money and asserted that the vast majority of the state money goes to prize money paid tax-free into the pockets of wealthy owners. He described the list of horse racing owners as a who’s who of the richest people in the country.
Murphy drew attention to greyhound welfare evidence, recalling that almost 3,000 of the 12,500 racing greyhounds born in 2021 were already dead or unaccounted for within three years. He cited a ministerial report saying the welfare of racing greyhounds in Ireland is an existential issue for the industry and warned of dogs dying on tracks and freezers for dead dogs at racetracks.
He referenced the 2019 RTE Investigates programme Greyhounds Running For Their Lives and said it highlighted problems in the sector, including the revelation that 14 seating Fine Gael TDs formed a syndicate and bought a greyhound called Swift Starlet. He questioned whether public money should be funnelled to an industry that, he said, would not exist without state support.
State funding and scale
Paul Murphy said the package under consideration totals €100 million this year, with about €20 million for greyhound racing and about €80 million for horse racing. He contrasted that sum with the funding for Sport Ireland and said it is more than three times the core funding given to the 87 different sports bodies in the country.
Allocation of funds
He said the Department of Agriculture allows up to €75 million to be used for prize money and asserted that the vast majority of the state money goes to prize money paid tax-free into the pockets of wealthy owners. He described the list of horse racing owners as a who’s who of the richest people in the country.
Greyhound welfare and statistics
Murphy drew attention to greyhound welfare evidence, recalling that almost 3,000 of the 12,500 racing greyhounds born in 2021 were already dead or unaccounted for within three years. He cited a ministerial report saying the welfare of racing greyhounds in Ireland is an existential issue for the industry and warned of dogs dying on tracks and freezers for dead dogs at racetracks.
Scandals and political examples
He referenced the 2019 RTE Investigates programme Greyhounds Running For Their Lives and said it highlighted problems in the sector, including the revelation that 14 seating Fine Gael TDs formed a syndicate and bought a greyhound called Swift Starlet. He questioned whether public money should be funnelled to an industry that, he said, would not exist without state support.
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Transcript
Thanks a lot. This is the 12th time that I've been in here and asked to vote for a huge amount of money to be handed over to the horse and greyhound racing industry. This year, what we're asked to vote for is 100 million euros. About 20 million to greyhound racing and about 80 million to horse racing. To put that in context, that is close to the total funding for Sport Ireland. It's more than three times the amount of core funding given to the 87 different sports bodies in this country. Adding together GAA, FAI, Swim Ireland, Athletics Ireland, Special Olympics Ireland, it's a yearly scandal now decades long. 100 million euros to gambling addiction fueling industry. And where does the money go? Does it fund the welfare of horses and greyhounds? Does it fight the scourge of gambling addiction? Does it assure decent pay for workers in the sector? Of course not. The vast majority of this money goes to prize money. Money paid by the state, public money, paid tax-free into the pockets of the wealthy owners. And if you look at the horse racing owners, it is a who's who of the richest people in this country. The Department of Agriculture itself allows that 75 million of this money can go into prize money. Over three quarters. And we know we don't have to look very far to find some of these old owners, in particular greyhound owners. The greyhound racing scandal of 2019, highlighted by the RTE Investigates programme, Greyhounds Running For Their Lives, highlighted the fact that 14 seating Fine Gael TDs formed a syndicate and bought a racing dog, Swift Starlet. And of course, some of the same TDs stood up in the Dáil in 2011, like many here today, speaking about how great this cruel industry is. Internationally, people are moving to ban greyhound racing. Wales, Scotland, New Zealand. Instead, we're funneling more and more money to an industry that would not exist without it. Last year, I raised the fact that almost 3,000 of the 12,500 racing greyhounds born in 2021 were already dead or unaccounted for just three years later. How high is that number now? A report commissioned by the Minister has said that the welfare of racing greyhounds in Ireland is an existential issue for the industry. Of course it is. With dogs dying on the tracks, with freezers for dead dogs on every single racetrack across the country, and a quarter of Irish racing greyhounds dead before their third or fourth year, how could ordinary people possibly be happy with it?