An increase of €6m has brought the horse racing and greyhound fund almost up to its highest ever level of €74m.

The fund is split 80%-20% between the two industries, with horse racing now set to account for just under €60m of it.

Both the thoroughbred and sport horse sectors are worth a combined €1.7bn to the Irish economy, supporting an estimated 30,000 full-time jobs, many of them in rural areas.

Referring to the €6m hike, Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said: “The focus will be on increasing the prize money, particularly in the greyhound industry.

“I’ll leave it up to the judgement of Horse Racing Ireland to come back with a recommendation on that.

“In terms of greyhound racing, they’ve had to cut prize money quite significantly in recent years because they have been very tight, so maybe it’s time we started to reverse that trend.

“Thoroughbred horse sales are up, attendances are up, prize money is up, investment in Ireland from abroad in terms of bringing horses here is up, betting is up, so there is a lot to suggest that racing is now on the up again,” Minister Coveney told the Irish Farmers Journal.

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Budget 2016