I must now deal with a deferred division relating to the Labour Party amendment to the motion regarding the proposed approval by Dáil Éireann of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund regulations 2025. Today, on the question "That the amendment be agreed to", a division was claimed and that division must now be taken.
Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2025: Motion (Resumed)
The following motion was moved by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Martin Heydon on Wednesday, 26 November 2025:
That Dáil Éireann approves the following Regulations in draft:
Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2025,
copies of which were laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on the 16th October, 2025.
Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:
To delete all words after "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 Fund have increased from €68 million in 2015, up to the €99.1 million proposed for 2026, and that the total allocated to the Fund since 2001, is likely to exceed €2 billion by 2027;
— 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;
— while up to 2009 the statutory indexation formula was followed, the Minister for Finance has confirmed that the formula was abandoned in 2009, without any enabling change in the Act, and that the approach since then has been for a unilateral decision by 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;
— 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; and
believes therefore that the funding model under section 12 of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001, is in urgent need of comprehensive review and replacement, beyond the scope of the recent Indecon governance review submitted to the Oireachtas Committee of Public Accounts, 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, its economic value, 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;
the review to be laid before both Houses within six months, with a view to amending legislation being in place well 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 2025,
copies of which were laid in draft form before Dáil Éireann on the 16th October, 2025.".
- (Deputy Duncan Smith)
Amendment put:
The Dáil divided: Tá, 48; Níl, 88; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Ahern, Ciarán.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Brady, John.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Daly, Pa.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Graves, Ann.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Kenny, Eoghan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lawlor, George.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Nash, Ged.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Charles.
- Ward, Mark.
Níl
- Aird, William.
- Ardagh, Catherine.
- Boland, Grace.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Browne, James.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Butterly, Paula.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, John.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Currie, Emer.
- Daly, Martin.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Farrelly, Aidan.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Healy-Rae, Danny.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Heneghan, Barry.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Lahart, John.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Neville, Joe.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Roche, Peter.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
- Ward, Barry.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Duncan Smith and Conor Sheehan; Níl, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie.
Amendment declared lost.
Question put: "That the motion be agreed to."
The Dáil divided: Tá, 118; Níl, 18; Staon, 0.
Tá
- Aird, William.
- Ardagh, Catherine.
- Bennett, Cathy.
- Boland, Grace.
- Brabazon, Tom.
- Brady, John.
- Brennan, Brian.
- Brennan, Shay.
- Browne, James.
- Buckley, Pat.
- Burke, Colm.
- Burke, Peter.
- Butler, Mary.
- Butterly, Paula.
- Buttimer, Jerry.
- Byrne, Joanna.
- Byrne, Malcolm.
- Cahill, Michael.
- Callaghan, Catherine.
- Carrigy, Micheál.
- Carroll MacNeill, Jennifer.
- Carthy, Matt.
- Chambers, Jack.
- Cleere, Peter 'Chap'.
- Clendennen, John.
- Collins, Michael.
- Connolly, John.
- Conway-Walsh, Rose.
- Cooney, Joe.
- Cronin, Réada.
- Crowe, Cathal.
- Crowe, Seán.
- Cullinane, David.
- Currie, Emer.
- Daly, Martin.
- Daly, Pa.
- Dempsey, Aisling.
- Devlin, Cormac.
- Doherty, Pearse.
- Dolan, Albert.
- Donnelly, Paul.
- Dooley, Timmy.
- Ellis, Dessie.
- Farrell, Mairéad.
- Feighan, Frankie.
- Fitzmaurice, Michael.
- Fleming, Sean.
- Foley, Norma.
- Geoghegan, James.
- Gould, Thomas.
- Graves, Ann.
- Grealish, Noel.
- Guirke, Johnny.
- Healy-Rae, Danny.
- Healy-Rae, Michael.
- Healy, Seamus.
- Heneghan, Barry.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Higgins, Emer.
- Kenny, Eoghan.
- Kenny, Martin.
- Keogh, Keira.
- Kerrane, Claire.
- Lahart, John.
- Mac Lochlainn, Pádraig.
- Maxwell, David.
- McAuliffe, Paul.
- McCarthy, Noel.
- McConalogue, Charlie.
- McCormack, Tony.
- McGettigan, Donna.
- McGrath, Séamus.
- McGreehan, Erin.
- McGuinness, Conor D.
- Mitchell, Denise.
- Moran, Kevin Boxer.
- Moynihan, Aindrias.
- Moynihan, Michael.
- Moynihan, Shane.
- Murphy, Michael.
- Mythen, Johnny.
- Neville, Joe.
- Newsome Drennan, Natasha.
- Nolan, Carol.
- O'Brien, Darragh.
- O'Callaghan, Jim.
- O'Connor, James.
- O'Donnell, Kieran.
- O'Donoghue, Richard.
- O'Donovan, Patrick.
- O'Flynn, Ken.
- O'Hara, Louis.
- O'Meara, Ryan.
- O'Reilly, Louise.
- O'Rourke, Darren.
- O'Shea, John Paul.
- O'Sullivan, Christopher.
- O'Sullivan, Pádraig.
- Ó Cearúil, Naoise.
- Ó Laoghaire, Donnchadh.
- Ó Muirí, Naoise.
- Ó Murchú, Ruairí.
- Ó Snodaigh, Aengus.
- Ó Súilleabháin, Fionntán.
- Quinlivan, Maurice.
- Richmond, Neale.
- Roche, Peter.
- Scanlon, Eamon.
- Smith, Brendan.
- Smyth, Niamh.
- Stanley, Brian.
- Timmins, Edward.
- Toole, Gillian.
- Troy, Robert.
- Wall, Mark.
- Ward, Barry.
- Ward, Charles.
- Ward, Mark.
Níl
- Ahern, Ciarán.
- Bacik, Ivana.
- Coppinger, Ruth.
- Farrelly, Aidan.
- Gogarty, Paul Nicholas.
- Hayes, Eoin.
- Lawlor, George.
- Murphy, Paul.
- Nash, Ged.
- O'Callaghan, Cian.
- O'Donoghue, Robert.
- O'Gorman, Roderic.
- Quaide, Liam.
- Rice, Pádraig.
- Sheehan, Conor.
- Sherlock, Marie.
- Smith, Duncan.
- Whitmore, Jennifer.
Staon
Tellers: Tá, Deputies Mary Butler and Emer Currie; Níl, Deputies Duncan Smith and Conor Sheehan.
Question declared carried.