Rásaíocht Con Éireann (RCÉ) is a commercial state body, established under the Greyhound Industry Act, 1958, chiefly to control greyhound racing and to improve and develop the greyhound industry. RCÉ is a body corporate and a separate legal entity to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

Since 2020 my Department has ringfenced 10% of the Fund allocation to RCÉ for welfare including integrity. Each year RCÉ has significantly exceeded the 10% requirement in its budget allocation towards welfare including integrity. A key priority of the board of RCÉ is the continued expansion of the Care and Welfare initiatives which include a range of measures.

RCÉ has informed my Department that the Rásaíocht Con Éireann Traceability System (RCÉTS) continues to play an important role in supporting the traceability, accountability and welfare oversight of racing greyhounds.

RCÉTS was introduced in January 2021 and as of June of this year, 64,676 greyhounds were subject to traceability. The system was specifically designed to capture key life events for racing greyhounds, including microchipping, registration, racing activity, changes of ownership, location changes, export, retirement, rehoming and end-of-life notifications.

In relation to retired greyhounds specifically, RCÉ has advised my Department that owners and trainers can record a range of outcomes on RCÉTS including retirement, rehoming, retention as a pet, retention for breeding, export and death. Once a greyhound is retired from racing their records remain available on the system and greyhounds retained as pets or for breeding continue to be visible on the owner's profile and may be subject to welfare inspections by authorised welfare officers.

RCÉTS is supported by a number of compliance measures. Owners and trainers are required to keep relevant RCÉTS records up-to-date, and restrictions on race entries can apply where outstanding traceability information has not been provided.

An important pillar of Government policy is to ensure that the greyhound racing industry achieves its maximum potential, and in so doing, contributes to economic and social development over a wide geographic distribution. The future of the industry is dependent on a strong governance platform and on the industry having the highest standards of integrity and welfare founded on a strong regulatory system and RCÉTS plays an important role in this regard.