Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue has defended a €4.1m hike in the Horse and Greyhound Fund claiming that “significant progress” has been made in terms of animal welfare standards in the two industries.
The annual State grant to the horseracing and greyhound industries is to increase in the budget up to €99.1m for 2025. It is the highest the fund has reached in its 23 years of existence.
The €99.1m will be split between the two sports in an 80:20 ratio — €79.28m will go to Horse Racing Ireland with €19.82m for Greyhound Racing Ireland, the governing bodies for the two industries.
The fund has been guaranteed since being introduced by then-finance minister Charlie McCreevy in 2001.
It has proven controversial for many reasons, in that it stands accused of giving an unfair level of funding to the two industries given the relatively small level of funding given to other sports such as football, while opponents of the horseracing and greyhound racing consider the ongoing support for the fund inappropriate given a series of animal cruelty scandals which have affected the two sports over the past decade.
Horseracing in particular found itself the subject of heightened scrutiny last June after an RTÉ Investigates exposé detailed incidents of alleged horse cruelty at the Shannonside Foods horse abattoir at Straffan in Co Kildare.
At a budget press conference on Wednesday, Mr McConalogue was asked how the increase could be justified. He said “significant progress” has been made in the “prioritisation of animal welfare spending” across the two sports.
“That funding is contingent on the highest animal welfare standards and indeed some of that funding has now been ringfenced for welfare measures and for welfare standards,” he said.
“In relation to the greyhound industry, 15% of the funding is ringfenced for welfare and rehoming and there has been some great progress made in relation to that.
“The long-term viability of both industries is absolutely contingent on top class welfare standards and treatment of the animals involved,” he said, adding that both industries are “important sources of employment” and they require the funding to maintain their position.
The Department of Agriculture did not mention the funding allocated to the fund in its press material accompanying the Government’s budget announcement on Tuesday.
Responding to the latest funding hike, spokesperson for advocacy group Greyhound Action Ireland Nuala Donlon described the move as “outrageous”, noting that €94m has been given to greyhound racing via the fund during the tenure of the current Government alone.