There should be a full and independent investigation into how the horse racing industry calculates deaths, a Green Party TD has said.

Dublin-Central Deputy Neasa Hourigan said the current system doesn't link deaths to a race if it happens 48 hours later.

Some 111 deaths were recorded in the industry last year; however, Deputy Hourigan told Newstalk Breakfast the number is actually much higher.

"What we've found out in the last few weeks is that the recording of injuries and deaths in horse racing is not what we would expect or what we would like," she said.

"At the moment when there is a death, the way they record it currently is, if the horse dies in the 48 hours after they have raced, that is recorded as a death relating to horse racing.

"But if they die subsequently in the next month, for example, that is not recorded.

"In the last year we've had 111 deaths recorded in that 48-hour time period but in fact, in the month after racing, it's in fact 130 more.

"So the full total number of deaths... is 240."

State funding

Deputy Hourigan said the figures are worrying.

"Anybody who follows racing will know that a horse has to be in tip-top condition to enter into a race," she said.

"So, the fact that we have 130 extra deaths after that 48-hour period is really worrying and certainly something that should be raising red flags."

A close up of a horse's face, 31-8-09. Image: PA Images / Alamy

Deputy Hourigan said the industry should be more transparent as it receives taxpayer funding.

"The sector here is an incredibly successful sector, it's a sector that does generate a huge amount of income and it's a very valuable sector here," she said.

"But it does also get a huge amount of State funding - in the region of €60 million most years.

"I think last year it was €76 million from the budget.

"It is a sector that receives a huge amount of State funding and I think taxpayers who are funding that can recognise that it's a very successful sector.

"But they would expect a few basics; they would expect good governance and the minimum of animal welfare.

"I think on both those counts in the last year there have been questions raised around the horse racing industry," she added.

Deputy Hourigan called for an independent investigation into the industry with full recommendations.

Main image: Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan in June 2022. Image: Sam Boal / Photocall Ireland