THE Minister for Agriculture has set up a team within his Department dedicated to monitoring the challenges posed by Brexit to the equine sector.

Speaking at the Equine Summit in Kildare on Thursday, Minister Creed acknowledged that the success of Ireland’s equine industry relies largely on the unfettered movement of horses between Ireland and Britain.

“Brexit presents a formidable challenge,” he said. “Equine sport in both countries is closely linked.”

The Minister hosted a equine forum in June to specifically discuss Brexit, focussing on how the tripartite agreement between Ireland, Britain and France could be maintained, and the administrative issues associated with running racing on an All-Ireland basis.

He continued: “The Irish bloodstock and racing industry is of major national importance in terms of employment, especially in rural areas, as well as in exports and tourism. We should be very proud of the fact that Ireland is one of the leading bloodstock nations in the world.

“We are ranked as the world’s second largest producer of bloodstock by value, with public auction bloodstock values of €338 million.”

Recognising the rural reach of thesector, he said: “The horse industry influences every corner of our country; it’s clearly a major contributor to our economy,’’ he said.