It has received nearly a quarter of a billion euros of taxpayers' money since 2001, including €16 million for 2017 and another €16 million for 2018. Now the government is poised to hand over millions more to the cruel and dying greyhound industry. Replying to a parliamentary question from Sinn Fein TD Pearse Doherty, the Minister for Agriculture revealed that the greyhound industry is to benefit from the Department of Agriculture's 2018-2022 National Development Plan. Deputy Creed - co-owner of a greyhound named Swift Starlet (whereabouts and fate unknown) and presenter of a trophy last summer to the owner of a greyhound which later tested positive for cocaine - has previously stated: "I have no plans to reduce funding of the [greyhound] sector". In response to the 27th February Dail question, he outlined that facilities for the greyhound racing industry will be among the projects funded by his department's capital allocation over the next five years. The shameful commitment to continued funding comes despite the public increasingly rejecting greyhound racing - evident in a 49 per cent drop in track attendance in the past decade - and most tracks experiencing major financial losses. The horse racing industry - which has already received 900,000,000 of taxpayers' money - will also continue to receive funding, Minister Creed announced. The squandering of scarce public money on greyhound and horse racing is particularly deplorable at a time when our country's health and housing is in crisis and so many worthy causes are crying out for funds. Please join us in demanding an end to the funding of these gambling industries which are responsible for much suffering and death. ACTION ALERT Urge Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed and Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe to end the funding. An Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar Department of the Taoiseach, Government Buildings, Upper Merrion St, Dublin 2 Telephone: +353 (0)1-6194020 Email: taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie, leo.varadkar@oireachtas.ie Tweet to: @campaignforLeo Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campaignforleo/ Michael Creed TD Minister for Agriculture Department of Agriculture Agriculture House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. Email: michael.creed@oir.ie Tel: +353 (0)1-607 2000 or LoCall 1890-200510. Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelcreedtd Tweet to: @creedcnw Paschal Donohoe TD Minister for Finance Email: paschal.donohoe@oireachtas.ie, minister@per.gov.ie Phone: +353 (0)1 6045810 Leave a comment on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaschalDonohoe/ Tweet to @Paschald Dail Question and Answer 27 February 2018 Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein): To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his Department's capital allocation in each of the years 2018 to 2022; and the areas to which funds will be allocated in each of those years. Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael): The allocations set out for the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in the National Development Plan for the 2018-2022 period are as follows: Year €m 2018 248* 2019 255 2020 258 2021 265 2022 275 * this does not include capital allocation to be carried over from 2017. The funding will be allocated in the annual estimates process for capital programmes and schemes already in operation, as well as for emerging challenges including those arising from Brexit. Over the 2018-2022 period the programmes funded will include the following: - Forestry Programme - Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Scheme under the 2014-2020 Rural Development Programme - European Maritime & Fisheries Fund Operational Programme 2014-2020 - Investment support for food sector companies , the organic sector and commercial Horticulture - Investment support for facilities for the Horse and Greyhound Racing industries In 2021 and 2022 funding will be allocated to the capital schemes envisaged to be operated under the successors to the existing 2014-2020 EU co-funded programmes (RDP and EMFF) and the post 2020 Forestry programme. In addition to the above multi-project programmes, which support investment by operators across the Agriculture, Food and the Marine sectors, funding will be allocated each year for my Department’s ICT equipment and infrastructure, and Laboratory infrastructure and equipment, for the development of Fisheries Harbours, facilities maintenance and development for Teagasc, Marine Institute, SFPA and BIM, as well as for specific projects with a more limited expenditure timescale.