I was at a race meeting in Shelbourne Park once were a greyhound caught the bunny. It was horrifying to see the poor animal lose all its teeth.... why is a Minister with a vested interest in the continuation of this blood-sport in charge of decision-making?
I could, of course, point out to you the point you miss - all the numbers I quoted came from Mickey at different times. The dodgy numbers are not mine but exclusively Mickey's or his those of his lying/inventive/lazy/uninformed officials' if you prefer.I could have been more forceful in my initial post and pointed out the delicious inherent irony of you castigating the Minister for using dodgy numbers by, well................using dodgy numbers yourself.
The point of my OP was to highlight Mickey's ducking and diving and perhaps outright lies about the employment value of this blood-sport in which he and other Fine Girl party members have vested interests.Honestly, I would pay far more attention to the substantive point you are trying to make if you were to acknowledge the deficit in your original post!
SO you'd be happy with Mickey's original number that in excess of 10% of the people employed in agriculture are employed in the greyhound industry?There are 2,000 working in the Department of Agriculture versus 110,000 working in agriculture.
Bord Na gCon is responsible for coursing where healthy hares die. And of course greyhounds also die and show up in rivers, dumps and fields minus any identifying marks and the industry is resistent to having greyhounds electronically chipped.I was at a race meeting in Shelbourne Park once were a greyhound caught the bunny. It was horrifying to see the poor animal lose all its teeth.
are exclusive to Bord na gCon's activities.the staff who work in hospitality, those who work for the Tote, bookmakers, vets, journalists, printers who print racecards
In December, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed claimed that the "greyhound industry employs over 10,300 people".
The figures, quoted at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, were ridiculed, with one politician describing it as "more than questionable" and "such a gross over-estimate that it's almost laughable" Willie Penrose TD, Dec 2016.
This week, in response to a Dail question from Maureen O'Sullivan TD, Mickey revealed that the number of people actually employed by Bord na gCon/the Irish Greyhound Board is nowhere near 10,300 - https://www.kildarestreet.com/wrans/?id=2017-03-09a.68
"Bord na gCon has informed me that it currently directly employs 128 full-time staff and approximately 720 part-time staff," Minister Creed stated.
Minister Creed - who has been involved in greyhound racing and hare coursing (co-owning at least one greyhound with other Fine Gael TDs) - had presented the 10,300 jobs figure in an attempt to justify the government's major funding of the industry. This amounts to around a quarter of a billion euro since 2001, including a €16 million allocation for 2017.
So 10,300 or 848, a mixture of full and part-time staff, whatever that amounts to in whole-time equivalents (WTEs) in other State or semi-State bodies. It's less than 1/8th of the reported level of employment.
So should Mickey be turfed out for lying as he's been caught out in a whopper and a half or is it OK as he may not be on his own and was addressing a Committee held in the House rather than a full sitting of the Dáil?
So should Mickey be turfed out for lying as he's been caught out in a whopper and a half or is it OK as he may not be on his own and was addressing a Committee held in the House rather than a full sitting of the Dáil?
I missed this first time round. It is a tad ambiguous question so I will answer it in two possible interpretations. First a small correction to the Q. The greyhound industry is not a subset of agriculture, albeit it falls under MC's watch.SO you'd be happy with Mickey's original number that in excess of 10% of the people employed in agriculture are employed in the greyhound industry?
thedaddyman,
You're completely wrong - the point of Mathepac's post is that only those who work in Bord na gCon work in the industry - anyone else simply does not work in the industry. That should be clear enough for everyone![My guess is that the probability that the staff numbers in Bord na gCon being precisely equal to the staff numbers in the industry is arguably only slightly lower than the probability that Mathepac will admit this!]
Seriously thedaddyman, it's beyond ridiculous that you felt compelled to write what you did. We really need to find a word for the nonsense of a poster making a patently false point and subsequently failing to acknowledge it - it's really annoying and a waste of time.
For what it's worth, my suggested term for such behaviour is a "wahaya" - it will save us all much time and grief.
Let's start on a point of agreement. The industry should not be subsidised. I'm afraid it is downhill from there.[broken link removed]is the one mentioned above.
The employment figures are quoted on page 9.
The total quoted is 10,369. That includes 1,700 owners. I find it hard to believe that even a small minority of them derive the majority of their income from the industry. I think it is most likely that for 90% plus it is a hobby and they make no money from it.
They also lists the number employed at betting offices at 1400. Considering how few meetings there are I find it hard to believe that any of those employees rely on Greyhound racing for their jobs.
The vast majority of dogs raced in the UK are bred in Ireland so in that respect the figures for breeders etc should not be viewed in relation to the size of the industry in Ireland alone.
That said the whole report stinks of BS in that it looks like it totally misrepresents the facts.
I don't like the sport and I think Hare Coursing should be banned but without the industry the dogs would all just be put down.
I agree that the State should not be subsidising it at all but I am not in favour of State subsidies for any industry.
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