THE Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue has confirmed that funding for Irish racing is not dependent on betting tax income.

His clarification appears to diminish recent claims by several leading betting companies that proposed changes to gambling legislation would be “catastrophic” for Irish racing and send the sport “into a spiral of decline”.

In the past month the CEOs of both Paddy Power and BoyleSports warned, with some justification, that parts of the Gambling Regulation Bill would encourage punters to use black market bookmakers rather than licensed operators.

They both argued that a drop in taxable betting turnover would in turn have a negative impact on Irish racing.

The myth that betting tax is ringfenced for Irish racing was repeated by the Football Association of Ireland last April in a report which sought to influence the Government to distribute betting tax revenues among a wide range of sports, including football.

Horse Racing Ireland has in the past cited growth in betting activity as a reason why racing should receive more Government funding, and senior Department of Agriculture officials said earlier this year they take note of betting tax receipts when considering the level of funding given to Irish racing each year.

This week Senator Paul Daly asked the Minister to clarify the situation. The Minister’s responded: “To confirm, it [funding for racing] is not tied to the betting tax. It is dealt with separately in terms of the budgetary envelope. Initially when it [the Horse & Greyhound Racing Fund] commenced 20-plus years ago, it would have been but not for a long time now.”

The Minister made his comments in front of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture. He was seeking the Committee’s approval to raise the ceiling of the Horse & Greyhound Racing Fund to allow his Department to allocate €76 million to racing for 2024.

However, the Minister revealed that his Department will shortly put out a tender for an independent external review of the Horse & Greyhound Racing Fund “to get a further assessment of the Fund’s impact and its value.”

Across the Committee, there was widespread support for racing in general. Numerous TDs and senators who put questions to the Minister highlighted the importance of maintaining welfare standards for horses and people who work in the industry.

The Committee will meet again at 5.30pm next Wednesday to discuss “governance issues in the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board”. Darragh O’Loughlin and Dr Lynn Hillyer will represent the IHRB.