FINE GAEL, FIANNA Fáil and Sinn Féin voted in favour of a €4.1 million increase in funding for horse and greyhound racing last night, bringing the total funding for both industries close to €100 million.

The Labour Party had a free vote on the matter, with TDs Alan Kelly and Sean Sherlock voting in favour of the funding, while Labour leader Ivana Bacik, TD Brendan Howlin and TD Duncan Smith voting against the motion.

All Green Party TDs voted in favour of granting the funding, while the Social Democrats and People Before Profit TDs all voted down the motion. 

In terms of the Independent TDs, TD Michael Fitzmaurice voted in favour of the motion to approve funding for the industries, while TDs Joan Collins, Catherine Connolly and Thomas Pringle voted against it. 

The Regional Independent grouping and the Rural Independent TDs all voted in favour of the funding. Independents Marc MacSharry voted for the motion while former Sinn Féin TD, now Independent, Patricia Ryan voted against the motion. Violet-Anne Wynne also voted against the funding. 

A number of TDs, including Taoiseach Simon Harris and Tánaiste Micheál Martin were not present in the chamber for the vote and therefore their vote was not recorded. 

The funding was approved by 109 TDs who voted in favour of the bill, while just 19 TDs voted against. No TD abstained.

TDs shared a variety of views during the debate in the Dáil yesterday evening, a topic which has been seen to divide debate, even within political parties, such as the Labour Party. Some expressed anger over the funding boost, arguing not enough was being fairly allocated towards animal welfare, while others argued it was an integral part of Irish culture.

During the debate, government and other opposition TDs, including members of Sinn Féin and Labour’s Alan Kelly, supported the case for additional funding. 

Meanwhile, Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns and People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy railed against the scale of government funding being provided to the industry.

Junior minister in the Department of Agriculture Martin Heydon said the greyhound racing industry is “an integral part of the social fabric of our country”.

He said the horse and greyhound racing industries indirectly supports up to 30,000 jobs and 4,000 jobs respectively. Heydon argued the funding would assist with that employment as well as add to a well-established tradition.

Heydon’s opinion differed slightly to the views of his cabinet colleague, junior minister in the Department of Sport, Thomas Byrne who last week said greyhound racing is an industry “not a sport”.