Martin Heydon, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, makes no secret about his love and support for horse racing. The Kildare native, who was in attendance at the Curragh on Sunday for the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, sat down with TDN Europe's Brian Sheerin to discuss a wide range of topics.Heydon speaks openly about his views on Ireland's position on a global stage, prize-money levels in the country, equine welfare and much more.It's fair to say we're in a unique position in Ireland to have a Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine who has a deep appreciation and understanding of racing and bloodstock. Doing the job that I do is a dream for me given I grew up on a farm. But in particular, to have responsibility for the horse racing and breeding sectors, that gives me huge pleasure. I am a Kildare man and our home farm is right beside a National Hunt stud. I used to go over there in the spring during covering time when I was growing up so I would be well versed on what that day-to-day activity provides in terms of jobs for our locality. Even in my early 20s, when I was in the process of taking over our home farm and building that up, I needed an off-farm income for a few years while I was doing that so I worked on the track at Punchestown racecourse for four years. I am just a product, like many people in Kildare, of the industry. I made an income from the racing sector and understand it plays an important role. Culturally, it's obviously part of our identity and it's something we're world leaders in. But practically, racing plays a really significant role economically. When I think of the villages surrounding me in Kildare, take Moone for example, there is a cafe close to Jessica Harrington's yard. The impact that has in terms of coffees, sandwiches and even breakfast rolls being sold is a real, living experience of what these racing yards and stud farms provide to the local economy. It's why it is something I am so passionate about.What do you see as the biggest opportunities and threats to maintaining Ireland's competitive position in racing and bloodstock over the next decade?When I think of being in America during the height of the tension surrounding tariffs, I was advocating very strongly on behalf of the Irish whiskey sector and explaining what impact the tariffs would have on that. I visited Kentucky whilst on that trip and our connection to racing and breeding was the key that opened that door for me. There is a huge connection between Ireland and people living in Kentucky through their shared love and passion for the thoroughbred. It serves as a hub that opens so many doors for us and showcases the green island of Ireland and all that is good about it. We need to protect that. We have an awful lot of strengths. It's really important that we highlight the many individuals that directly or indirectly shape the industry and excel, whether that be jockeys, trainers or breeders, because our people are at the heart of everything we do. Showing that we're investing in our people and not resting on our laurels is very important. At a time when the country is at full employment, labour availability can be a challenge for the industry, which is why I am so supportive of the RACE Academy and, along with HRI and EQUUIP, developing the National Equine Campus. A strong focus on welfare will also be really important for the industry over the next decade. That is a key priority which was evident through HRI's strategic plan. I am saying all of this with a view towards opportunity but, at the same time, if you don't have the right focus in those areas, there is a real threat. The work HRI have been doing around animal welfare is really impressive and it's necessary because society's view of such issues is constantly evolving and standards will always need to be improved over time. One more point about opportunities, if you look at how we are supporting the industry, there is a really exciting development of the new all-weather track at Tipperary racecourse which is progressing well. For me, that is a development in people, too, because if you work in a yard in the south of the country, Dundalk racecourse is a long way to go during the winter. Even driving to use the gallops on the Curragh is also a long journey. The new all-weather facility at Tipperary is a hugely exciting facility for anyone who is based in the Munster region in particular. What other threats do we face?People's views on gambling are evolving and public perception matters. It's important that we continuously work with that in mind and be aware of that with a properly funded racing programme which is underpinned by strong prize-money levels that is directly linked to an industry that provides 30,000 jobs in the country. That is really important and I am proud to be in a government that continues to support the industry through the Horse and Greyhound Fund. In the more medium term, it must be noted that not every party in Ireland has been as explicit in their support of the industry in their previous election manifestos. That might need to be something that people reflect on. The industry can't rest on their laurels and that is something that I believe in and advocate for. But I don't think we should ever stop explaining that case and outlining how important that funding is for rural Ireland.You were in attendance at RACE recently to announce plans for the new National Equine Campus. Why is that so important for the industry?I suppose I made the point already but, when you have an economy that is at full employment, it can be challenging to win the hearts and minds of young people who have a myriad of different options for career paths ahead. What you have to be able to offer is, that whatever level of entry, there will be a certain level of recognition. Something that means that, if after four or five years spent in the industry, you decide to move on and do something else, the time spent and education gained is recognised in a broader sense. That is a really important consideration for somebody starting out in a career. It's also a very important consideration for parents of young people who might say, 'if you do a different trade, you might have a piece of paper to recognise your time.' To have something that is transferable and recognisable is very important. Again, this goes back to the point about not resting on your laurels. You can't just lean into the fact that some people are passionate about working with horses, we need to recognise that we are in a very competitive space to win the hearts and minds of young people. If we can get the right young people into this industry and look after them well, that's what's most important. This island of Ireland is absolutely suitable for the raising of thoroughbreds with its limestone land. But at its very heart, if you took the Irish people and our experience and passion for the horse out of that equation, we'd be a much poorer industry. Minding people and having that conveyor belt of new people coming into the industry and being trained appropriately is crucial.How does the government assess the economic contribution of racing and breeding and are there areas where you believe further policy support is justified?In terms of how we assess it, we had the 2023 Deloitte report where the economic impact of the thoroughbred racing and breeding sectors are estimated to generate €2.46 billion. That represents a 34% increase from the previous report in 2016. That multiplier effect, which I regularly make a case for, is really important. The goal is to grow this return year on year. By the end of 2028, we estimate that the return will reach €3 billion. Driving the long-term sustainability of the industry has multi-faceted angles. Obviously government support is a key part of that. Industry leveraging its support through sponsorship and other key areas are important also. One of the other reasons that the government is so keen to support the industry is that we are matching high-net worth individuals and taking their after-tax money that they could spend on anything. They're investing that in breeding and racing facilities in Ireland and generating jobs and economic activities. For me, that's why it makes total sense that we would make that investment. Are the current prize-money levels sufficient given the rising costs? Do you think the prize-money levels are sufficient to keep the industry competitive on an international stage?I provide an awful lot of money to the horse racing sector through my department and I have explained pretty clearly why that is a good idea and the right thing to do. How HRI manages that money, that is their role to prioritise that expenditure and obviously prize-money is an absolute key driver of that activity in maintaining the best horses in training in Ireland. But, as I said, that is one element to it. You asked earlier about threats and another threat would be animal diseases. Therefore, the role of the Irish Equine Centre is absolutely critical and I am really proud that our government is investing in a significant upgrade of our Irish Equine Centre. Success for them is that we never hear about them because it means that they are doing a brilliant job. Prize-money is very important and I expect HRI to identify the key areas that they need to support and to use and manage that money accordingly. Investing in facilities, like the development of the new Tipperary all-weather track and the Irish Equine Centre, are equally as important and I am delighted to be able to support that.Is there a risk that Ireland focuses too heavily on attracting elite international investment while losing the middle-tier owner who underpins the everyday racing programme? Ultimately, this is the role of the semi-state body to design the system and identify threats. I very much welcome the changes that HRI made with regards to prize-money, where the sixth-place horse receives prize-money. That is the balance here. You don't want to dilute the overall attractiveness of first prize but it does need to be spread wide enough so that more people see prize-money. That's why we have a semi-state body. Government ministers do not and should not micro-manage whole sectors but that is not to say we don't have very robust discussions. I quiz all of the semi-state bodies as to how they are spending their money and to understand if they are meeting key policy priorities and objectives. The guiding light for me is to increase that value for the overall economy to €3 billion for 2028 and, at the very least, maintain the level of employment in the industry. I trust HRI to manage the resources it gets and obviously these are not infinite pots of money. I have constraints on my budgets. When I go into my negotiations with the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure, I try to get as much money as I can. A semi-state body needs to come up with innovative ways to best use the resources that are available to them and never take them for granted.If you were buying a horse today as a middle-market owner, would the current prize-money structure give you confidence that ownership in Ireland represents good value?I would and I intend to be a racehorse owner further down the line whenever I get the time to be able to go racing regularly and to actually enjoy the experience. For me, it would represent value because I have a huge interest and passion for the sport. But we all need to continue to work hard in order to ensure that it is a good structure and represents good value to a prospective owner who is less passionate or interested than I am. We have a lot of high-net individuals who could take their after-tax money and spend it on a yacht or whatever else but they put it into horse racing. For that to remain an attractive proposition is key because governments can never do this on their own and their money helps support so many jobs across the country.How is racing viewed within the government? That relationship seems to have strengthened in recent times. The relationship is strong. We do have to be mindful that politicians come and go and it's up to the industry to remember why it is so important. But we're in a good place. I work closely with Nina Carberry on various things and it's massive for the industry to have someone like her in Europe and doing so well. These relationships ebb and flow and elections are times when things can change. If I look at the United Kingdom from a farming perspective, a change of government left a few farmers feeling like they were being taken for granted, I think it's fair to say. We saw overnight how a change in government in the UK and a change of policy turned the system on its head and all of a sudden you had families who had to sell land just to be able to transfer it from one generation to the next. It's a reminder to all of us that governments can change and policy can change very significantly. That's why, we can never be complacent and that's a key point to make. That's why we need to keep making strides on animal welfare standards, traceability, value for money in terms of expenditure and the return that it makes and the industry is good at that. It's good at having its awards and nights where it highlights the people involved. That's also very important. And finally, we hear a lot about social licence. You clearly feel we need to be mindful about perception. Social licence is everything. If you lose it, you don't get it back. I don't think we are anyway complacent about that and HRI's strategic plan is anything but complacent. But what I will say is that when I got this job as Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I am sure there were plenty of people who thought, 'Martin is a great supporter of ours, he'll get us everything we ask for.' I do continue to support the sector but, as someone who is a big supporter of the industry and someone who understands its value, I do see the threats to that. Sometimes my job is to remind the industry of that if I feel it is necessary. I am happy that there is a very clear focus on constantly improving our outputs on animal welfare and addressing people's concerns on gambling. That's all really, really important because our social licence is everything.The post Martin Heydon Q&A: ‘The Relationship Between Government And Racing Is Strong’ appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.