Economical value of hare coursing disputed by TD

A widely shared figure in the debate on hare coursing has been disputed by a party leader. People Before Profit’s Paul Murphy has described the €70.7 million economic value of hare coursing as “unbelievable”. The Dublin South-West TD had put forward a bill to ban hare coursing that was voted on in the Dáil last night (July 8), with 125 Dáil members eventually voting against the ban, and 24 voting for it. In a statement, Deputy Murphy said: “In the debate last week on my bill to ban hare coursing, Minister Niall Collins said: ‘In 2022, an independent economic analysis estimated that coursing contributed approximately €70.7 million annually to the Irish economy.’ “The same figure was repeated on the airwaves by other Fianna Fáil TDs and by the Irish Coursing Club.”