Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 5th March, 2010.

I, MARTIN CULLEN, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 12(5) of the Section 12 of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act, 2001 .

This Regulation is required to give effect to the Budget allocation of €59.264m to the horse and greyhound racing industries for 2010. This provision is included in the Vote of the Office of the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism for 2010.

It should be noted that this represents a reduction of 13% (€8.864m) in the subvention from 2009, which in turn was a reduction of 11% (€8.158m) from 2008.

In order for the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism to provide this funding an increase to the aggregate limit on the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund (by €59,264,000), pursuant to the provisions of Section 12(5) of the Horse and Greyhound Racing Act 2001 , is required. At present the aggregate limit on the Fund is €613,907,713, of which nothing remains. Therefore the aggregate limit must now be increased by €59,264,000 to €673,171,713.

Section 12(13) of the Act requires that a draft of every regulation proposed to be made shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas and the regulation shall not be made until a resolution approving of the draft has been passed by each such House. The purpose of this Memorandum is to inform Government that the draft regulations are now being laid before the Houses.