Greyhound funding tops €20m for first time under Budget 2027

Asked how its additional funding will be utilised, a spokesperson for industry body Greyhound Racing Ireland said it was still 'awaiting formal confirmation of our allocation for 2027 and when received it will be considered by the executive and board'. File picture

State funding for greyhound racing will exceed €20m a year for the first time under Budget 2027, as animal welfare campaigners called for greater scrutiny of the industry's economic value.

Agriculture minister Martin Heydon announced on Tuesday that the horse and greyhound fund will rise by €2.9m next year to €102m.

The fund is allocated on a 4:1 basis, meaning horse racing will receive €81.6m while greyhound racing will receive €20.4m, up €580,000 on funding for 2026.

The horse and greyhound fund was established in 2001 to support both industries, and has grown steadily in recent years. The €102m allocation for 2027 represents an increase of more than 21% on the €84m provided in 2020.

"I have allocated a further €2.9m for the horse and greyhound fund,” said Mr Heydon.

"The proposed increase in the fund will be linked to the implementation of the Indecon review’s recommendations in respect of equine and greyhound welfare and integrity,” he said, referring to a review carried out by an independent consultancy and presented to the Oireachtas last November.

That review concluded that the welfare of racing greyhounds is an “existential issue” for the industry in Ireland. 

Mr Heydon said that the increase in the fund would form part of his department's "overall animal welfare package" within the budget.

Asked how its additional funding will be utilised, a spokesperson for industry body Greyhound Racing Ireland said it was still "awaiting formal confirmation of our allocation for 2027 and when received it will be considered by the executive and board".

Nuala Donlon, a spokesperson for Greyhound Action Ireland, called for the Government to "immediately commission an independent, transparent, and up-to-date study of the economic value of greyhound racing" in Ireland.

She said it should be carried out "without industry involvement in either its methodology or conclusions" and seek to establish "the economic activity that would genuinely be lost if public funding were withdrawn".

The most recent financial appraisal of greyhound racing was carried out by economist Jim Power in 2021 using 2019 data. It concluded that greyhound racing supported more than 4,000 jobs and contributed €132m annually to the Irish economy.

Critics have repeatedly challenged those findings, noting that the report relied heavily on figures supplied by Greyhound Racing Ireland.