Like many people in rural Ireland I am a little confused by the Fáilte Ireland decision to stop promoting greyhound racing, both nationally and internationally, as part of its itineraries. This is bizarre. It is damaging for the industry and for the livelihoods of people such as small-scale greyhound owners and the many people who benefit from greyhound racing through employment and so forth. I do not know what is going on or who is running the Cabinet. How can Fáilte Ireland be interfered with by a Minister and requested to do this? Imagine if the Guinness Storehouse was taken off the itinerary. This is blackguarding rural Ireland again. It is a Dublin-centric Cabinet that just says to hell with rural Ireland - to hell or to Connacht and leave everything. This is madness. I call on the Taoiseach to reverse this decision and insist that Fáilte Ireland advertise the full range of sporting events we have and not victimise a particular sector.

Is the Taoiseach willing to distance himself from statements made by a colleague which I consider to be an attack on our greyhound industry? The people Deputy Mattie McGrath and I speak for adore their greyhounds. They love their greyhounds and their sport. There is nothing wrong with that sport. It is a proud tradition. As with everything, there was an exposure recently of practices that were not right, but nobody condones those. No Member of this House would condone any type of cruelty or the like under any circumstances. It is the opposite. The people we are talking about love their animals and their sport. There is nothing wrong with that sport. Will the Taoiseach distance himself from those comments and show that this Government is not against everything we stand for in rural Ireland?

Is it appropriate for a Minister to interfere with the advertising campaigns of the tourism promotion agencies in this country? I believe it is not. Is the Taoiseach happy with a Minister making such an intervention? To put it in context, last year I and many of my constituency colleagues were seeking support for the Valentia-Renard ferry through a tourism grant from Fáilte Ireland.

The same Minister made it very clear that he could not interfere with the decision making process of Fáilte Ireland. Subsequently, the ferry service did not receive the necessary funding. If it is not appropriate to talk to Fáilte Ireland about funding processes, then neither is it appropriate to talk to it about its marketing campaigns. I ask the Taoiseach to distance himself from those remarks.

Deputy Kevin O'Keeffe on the same matter.

It is ironic that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, who is causing problems here today, is the colleague of the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Josepha Madigan, who is also responsible for greyhound racing. This House only recently passed the Greyhound Racing Bill with the backing of Fianna Fáil. While I have some concerns about the RTÉ programme which was somewhat like "Rolling Back the Years", the way the greyhound industry is being portrayed by some of the Taoiseach's ministerial colleagues is appalling. How can we have confidence in the Government, having passed the Greyhound Racing Bill? The Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Andrew Doyle, has said that he will bring forward amendments to correct animal welfare legislation and here we have a senior Minister undermining the whole industry. I remind the Taoiseach I was in Shelbourne Park last Saturday week and went with friends to Curraheen Park last weekend where the first round of the Laurels was run and there was a full house. More importantly, the prize money has been guaranteed for the next four years because of public support. I ask the Taoiseach please to intervene.

No one in this House would condone cruelty or mistreatment of animals. I know we are all agreed on that and that is not what this is about. I understand that the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Ross, asked Fáilte Ireland to consider this matter but it made the decision for itself. For my own part, I go to Shelbourne Park every Christmas and have a very enjoyable evening. I intend to go again this year-----

He should bring Deputy Ross with him.

-----and recommend-----

If he can find him.

-----that anyone who wishes to form an opinion on this should go along to their local meeting and make a decision for themselves as to whether they want to promote it or not.

That is not satisfactory-----

Deputy Eamon Ryan is next.

The Minister must ask Fáilte Ireland to reinstate the funding.

The Deputy should put down a Topical Issue.