I am glad to be in the House with further legislation regarding horse and greyhound racing, sectors which, during my time as Minister, I am pleased to have been able to improve in terms of structure and funding. I express my appreciation to Members of the House for taking this legislation today. Senator Cosgrave and his family have a long and distinguished interest in the horse racing industry and I will be happy to elaborate and clarify matters during the debate.
There was consensus on, support for and constructive debate on this legislation in the Dáil. I was pleased to accept a number of amendments on Committee and Report Stages which strengthen and improve the Bill.
Following the establishment of the IHA in 1994 and the new financing arrangements for the horse and greyhound industries in 1999, the raison d'être of the Bill is to secure the future of Irish racing. Up to 1994 racing had seen little change for 50 years, since the establishment of the old Racing Board in 1945. The number of times the fate of either the horse or greyhound racing industries was discussed in the Oireachtas was very few and, hence, I make no apologies for coming back to this subject as much as is required to get things right and put matters on a sound footing for the foreseeable future.
Senators will be aware that it was not an easy task to get industry agreement to the full package of measures in this Bill. It represents the most radical change ever contemplated for the sector and change of this nature is never easy. I take this opportunity to thank and congratulate all those industry leaders who contributed to the process of negotiating the final agreement that underpins this legislation.
In an area such as this one we cannot simply make laws and enforce them as one would for criminal activities; the law in this case has to be a blueprint for development. It represents only the framework within which the industries can move forward. After that, it takes much hard work, commitment, dedication and vision on the part of the people involved to make things happen and to shape the future.
In this legislation we have finally arrived at an excellent structure and funding arrangement which is unique and ideally suited to the needs of Irish racing. It provides a degree of certainty for the future concerning funding resources for the development of the industry.
Widespread industry agreement on this formula means that we will secure the drive and commitment to get the most out of it. We have the people and the skills, and we are now putting in place the structure and resources. Horse Racing Ireland and Bord na gCon will have to plot the way forward and with everybody's active support I predict a solid and competitive performance ahead for both sectors on the national and international stage, as well as exciting times for all those involved.
I was happy to see the proposals receiving such extensive support in the Dáil and I expect that Members of Seanad Éireann will also welcome these developments. Many Members of this House enjoy the sport and are actively involved. I wish to state my own vested interest in that I have, along with a number of Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas, a small investment in a greyhound called Lotto Princess. The dog is owned by a syndicate of Members called the Leinster Lawn syndicate. I was also fortunate enough to become involved in the Grand Alliance syndicate that purchased Arctic Copper. I vowed that I would not be left out of the greyhound business. That is the disclosure I wish to make.
In the Dáil debate it was not possible to agree on all the details but I am sure most people will accept that there is a single-minded consensus on the substantive issues. The horse and greyhound breeding and racing industries were long overdue this kind of overhaul treatment. I am particularly glad about the £200 million cap on funding, which will give this House and the Dáil an opportunity to debate the important horse and greyhound industries every three to four years. This is as it should be. They should not have to depend on the interest of the Minister of the day in racing to have a fundamental review of activities, performance and general direction.
The Government attaches a strategic importance to racing because of the roughly 30,000 people who are employed in these industries and the significant contribution the sector as a whole makes to rural development, farm and other incomes, the business and services sectors, tourism, the economy and the international reputation of the State. Racing also makes a significant contribution to the buoyant £1 billion off-course betting market. There is scarcely a town or village in the country that does not benefit in some way from these activities.
Ireland is recognised as one of the leading countries in the world for the production of quality thoroughbred horses and greyhounds. Our natural resources are ideal for the purpose and Irish people have a breadth and depth of innate skills and experience in the breeding, handling, rearing and training of these often extremely valuable animals. This combination can scarcely be matched elsewhere.
The last five years have seen the number of thoroughbred horses being registered annually here rise by over 20%, with a similar increase in the number of runners. The gross value of our thoroughbred sales has more than doubled to near £100 million in that time. The IHA company, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, has been working hard to ensure that we get our fair share of growth in existing markets and new markets worldwide. In the past year alone, ITM has conducted an unprecedented number of promotional visits to 25 established or potential markets for Irish thoroughbreds. It has set up an excellent website on the Internet and distributes information on Irish horses to over 2,500 contacts in 64 countries. It operates an extremely successful inward buyer programme.
The result is a huge increase, in percentage terms, in customers for our horses coming from Australia, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Tunisia. There is still potential growth to be experienced in the trade to Turkey. Of the emerging markets, Spain and Greece are showing great promise and other countries which offer serious potential include China, Korea, Saudi Arabia and South America.
Ireland has always been regarded as the home of the best racing greyhounds. However, when the racing sector was in decline here for lack of investment in and promotion of the sport, there was a serious knock-on effect on the breeding front. Since the home industry has been rejuvenated over the last five years or so, prices for our quality greyhounds have risen and our markets have opened up again. The Leinster Lawn syndicate got some idea of the increase in prices of greyhounds in recent times. We export Irish greyhounds to the UK, the US, Australia and many European countries. Nevertheless, there remains a big job of work to be done in developing existing markets and exploring new ones.
We have never been short here of world class thoroughbred horses and greyhounds, and famous breeders, owners, trainers and jockeys whom we can rightly describe as legends in their own time. Last year alone, Irish-bred horses won 30 group 1 races around the world. The highlights included the record-breaking performance of Sinndar who won the Irish Derby, the Epsom Derby and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe; Istabraq's outstanding run at Cheltenham; Papillon's win in the Aintree Grand National; and the Irish-trained Giant's Causeway who ran in eight group 1 races and won five. Just last week, Imagine and Galileo were added to that long list, having won the Epsom Oaks and Epsom Derby respectively.
Just as important, and some would say even more so, are the human heroes behind those horses, the youthful Aidan O'Brien, John Oxx, Ted and Ruby Walsh, and another father and son combination, Tommy and Paul Carbery. I must also mention the legendary Vincent O'Brien who has been our most famous ambassador as a renowned trainer under both codes – national hunt and flat. Johnny Murtagh had a tremendous year in 2000, riding 12 group 1 winners and Michael Kinane came a close second with 11 such wins.
I also wish to mention Paul Hennessy, an outstanding greyhound trainer. His latest achievement has been the performance of the Late Late Show greyhound. Mr. Hennessy's dogs have won a substantial number of major races, including some of the classics, yet he is still only in his twenties. Both Mr. Hennessy and Mr. Aidan O'Brien are great examples of the young people who are coming through the system and swiftly reaching the top of their sporting sectors.
Irish-bred and trained greyhounds have been winning consistently at home and abroad. Bord na gCon finds it difficult every year to choose its hall of fame award winner, such is the large number of successful and extremely committed greyhound breeders, owners and trainers in the industry. This year, the award went to Pat Dalton, a Tipperary man, who is as well known in the US as he is here for the extremely high quality of his greyhound breeding and racing on the international scene. Mr. Dalton is generally regarded as Ireland's leading ambassador worldwide for the greyhound industry. I had the pleasure of presenting the award recently at a most impressive ceremony in Shelbourne Park.
Before I leave the subject of breeding and rearing horses and greyhounds, and the people involved, I would like to record my thanks and appreciation for their co-operation and commitment on the foot and mouth disease issue. This was one of our bigger challenges in recent times and presented for all of us many tense occasions and situations. The response from those involved in agriculture and the public generally was tremendous. Foot and mouth disease galvanised the whole country into extraordinary action on a single issue with one goal in sight.
I hope we are close to the end of the crisis, but it is not over. Events in Britain continue to cause concern with an average of four to five cases revealed every day. Thanks to a great effort by all, we have been successful in keeping foot and mouth disease out and we must continue to be vigilant. I take this opportunity to thank those in the horse and greyhound industries for their voluntary, enthusiastic and proactive stance since February. There were many times when it must have been extremely difficult for most of them.
If we have any doubts about the merits of the level of investment proposed in this legislation we need only look at the performance of these industries over the last five years and see their capacity for growth and development. Attendances at horseracing have grown from about one million to over 1.35 million people and on-course betting has jumped from £96 million to over £160 million. Prize money has justifiably shot up from £14 million to almost £25 million, with the contribution of sponsors and owners also increasing. I have already outlined the consequential and significant growth achieved in the breeding and sales of thoroughbreds over the same period.
Proportionately, the greyhound sector has seen an even faster rate of growth. Attendances have grown from just over half a million to 900,000 people and the one million target is expected to be broken this year. On-track betting has jumped from £23 million to over £53 million and prize money has more than doubled, rising from £1.9 million to about £4 million when we include the welcome development of the recently introduced special incentive schemes for racing. The contribution of sponsors to greyhound events is also increasing.
This is an appropriate time to introduce legislation putting these industries on a stronger, more secure footing for the future. Despite progress and growth, both sectors operate in a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment. The time has come to introduce fundamental changes.
That is the general background to the legislation. Its essential purpose is to put funding, support and resources for the industry on a sound footing and to introduce certainty, enabling those who guide and develop it to plan in the medium and long terms. I will be glad to go through the detail of the Bill for the House later today but now I wish to give Members as great an opportunity as possible to make their contributions.