Around 60% of Government money allocated to Horse Racing Ireland in 2021 was spent on prize money for races.
HRI received €76 million in exchequer funding in 2021, €43 million was set aside for prize money.
Owners and trainers contributed €19.4 million to the prize money fund.
The figures were given by the Secretary General at the Department of Agriculture Brendan Gleeson to the Public Accounts Committee.
Mr Gleeson defended the spending saying: "It's a competitive sector. We are competing with France and the UK and Australia and the US and it’s the prize money that brings in trainers and owners. And it's those high-quality horses being brought in for training that filters down the economy. So, that’s the basis for investment in the economy."
He told the committee chairman that the HRI is currently involved in an exercise "to assess the economic performance of the sector".
"The question is, is it the right thing to do, and I am pretty convinced by the argument that it’s a critical piece in making Ireland an attractive place to bring horses to race, to train horses and to do the things that contribute to that wider economic benefit."
Deputy Brian Stanley said there is an argument that a very small number of stables benefit from the investment in horse racing.
Mr Gleeson said the HRI factbook for 2021 shows 394 fixtures with 8,700 individual runners. 25% of horses won at least one race. Over 6,000 of the individual runners won prize money at some stage, which equates to around 69% individual runners.
He added that HRI has broadened the availability of prize money by extending it to the first six horses over the line.
"Of around 3,000 races, 2,600 have prize money of under €25,000, with 72 having prize money of greater than €100,000."
Earlier, Deputy Catherine Murphy said that just two of the country's six Greyhound tracks are economically viable and can pay their way without State intervention.
Mr Gleeson said that they have asked the Greyhound Racing Board to produce a new strategic plan. He confirmed they have asked them to "look at rationalisation in the context of consolidating the footprint of the industry to make it more viable".
He suggested that once published, the plan for rationalisation will be hotly contested.
