Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 July 2026
42. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to provide evidence for a claim made in the Dáil by the Minister for State with special responsibility for Forestry, Farm Safety, and Horticulture that hare coursing is worth €70 million to the Irish economy; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52197/26]
View answerCoursing is regulated under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, chiefly by the Irish Coursing Club (ICC), subject to the general control and direction of Rásaíocht Con Éireann; hare coursing is managed and regulated by the Irish Coursing Club. The organisation consists of 89 affiliated clubs from Ireland and Northern Ireland, all of whom are governed by the ICC’s rules and regulations.
No funding is provided to the Irish Coursing Club by Government.
The ICC has provided my Department with an independent report that it commissioned in 2022 by Jim Power Economics entitled The Economic and Financial Contribution of the Coursing Sector. The report estimated that the coursing sector contributes approximately €70.7 million annually to the Irish economy, the majority of which directly benefits rural communities.
