Dear Editor,

I run a mixed stud farm in the west of Ireland and rely on both Irish Draughts and Irish Sport Horses to keep my yard going. I am writing to express my frustration and genuine worry at the level of charges now being applied by Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) for passports and related services and to ask how, in light of this, the national studbook tender could have been handed back to HSI?

In 2022, I could register a foal with pedigree for €62 if I met the early deadline. I am now looking at €155 for an online foal passport before August 31st, and €210 if that deadline is missed. Yearling passports have gone from just over a hundred euro to €390, and passports for horses aged two and over are now €465. Change of ownership, which used to be €15, is now €55. These are increases in the region of 150-250% on essential services in a very short number of years.

For a breeder selling foals off the farm, these costs are not theoretical - they come straight off already tight margins. Between full registration, naming, inspections and transfers, the cost of simply getting young stock to a saleable, compliant state has become nearly impossible.

It is now quite realistic to see several hundred euro in paperwork and fees tied up in a foal before it ever leaves my yard. That is not sustainable.

What makes this even harder to swallow is that breeders have no real alternative. Irish Draughts and traditional Irish horses in particular have nowhere else to go for registration in this country for them to be recognised as such, and most purchasers of Irish Sport Horses still expect ISH papers. If small breeders begin to cut back mares, skip coverings or leave foals unregistered because the figures no longer stack up, both breeds will suffer and breeders will be forced to break the law by not having their stock registered. Over time, that means fewer TIH and Draught mares, fewer genuine Irish Sport Horses, and a further erosion of the breeding base that has underpinned Ireland’s reputation for producing quality animals.

These price hikes have also coincided with HSI’s decision to replace a working online system with a new one that has been beset by glitches, delays and repeated “updates”. At the same time, publicly available information indicates that staff numbers and staff costs within HSI have gone up significantly, not down. From where I am standing, there seems to be little evidence of cost control in the organisation; instead, the bill is being pushed onto breeders, who have no option but to pay unaffordable fees to try to stay in business.

Despite this backdrop, HSI was awarded the Department of Agriculture’s studbook tender at the start of this year. Within weeks of securing that contract, further increases for 2026 were announced. It is only fair to ask: what level of fees did HSI put forward in its tender, and how can it be acceptable for a publicly-backed monopoly provider to hike up charges almost immediately afterwards?

I would urge the Minister for Agriculture to set out clearly how this tender was assessed in terms of cost to breeders, and what protections will now be put in place so that breeders are not forced out of production by spiralling administrative charges.

Yours sincerely,

Liam Lynskey

Derryronane Stud