THE Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon TD, launched Ireland’s new Animal Welfare Strategy 2026-2030, Moving Animal Welfare Forward, this week, setting out a comprehensive framework which has a renewed focus on stronger enforcement, improved traceability, education, research and collaboration.

The Minister said equine welfare and traceability are important components of the new strategy, reflecting the need for effective systems to identify and monitor horses and to address practical challenges associated with their management.

Building on the Wall Report, launched in the aftermath of the RTÉ Investigates ‘Horses - Making a Killing’ programme, the Department will pursue improvements to equine traceability, including cross-border data sharing with Northern Ireland, new traceability checkpoints through show associations and the integration of animal collectors with the central equine database to improve the accuracy of records relating to equine deaths.

The strategy also commits to finalising the review of the Control of Horses Act 1996 and reviewing the contribution made by the Department towards local authority costs associated with its operation. In parallel, the Department will engage with relevant Government Departments through a dedicated working group to address the issue of the regulation of horse-drawn vehicles on public roads.

These measures are intended to strengthen traceability, improve coordination between relevant bodies and support more effective approaches to equine welfare and horse control.

Horse Sport Ireland welcomed the document. Earlier this year, HSI made a detailed submission to the Department outlining a range of measures that it believes should be central to the State’s approach to animal welfare, particularly in relation to horses.