Isabel Hurley

THE Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is to shortly advertise for tenders for companies to carry out an strategic review of the Irish sport horse sector.

Ireland’s lively sport horse sector is worth €700 million to the economy and accounts for 14,000 full-time jobs, many of them in rural Ireland.

Some 14 groups and organisations from the sector attended the first meeting of the implementation group of the Reaching New Heights strategy, chaired by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD (FG) on Tuesday.

Groups present included:

  • Horse Sport Ireland
  • Teagasc
  • The Irish Sports Council
  • Failte Ireland
  • Department of Education and Skills
  • Department of Agriculture and Rural Development in N.I.
  • The Army Equitation School
  • The Royal Dublin Society
  • Showjumping Ireland
  • Eventing Ireland
  • Dressage Ireland
  • Association of Irish Riding Establishments
  • The Irish Horse Board
  • The Connemara Pony Breeders Society

    • A DOA spokesperson told The Irish Field yesterday: “There was no decision on the introduction of a levy on entry fees, sales returns, or registrations. However, the Committee agreed that a strategic review of the sector would take place, and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine will tender for such an exercise shortly.”

    Only last week, Minister Coveney stressed again that an Indecon-style review would take place of Horse Sport Ireland which carried out the review into the racing sector and quickly followed up by getting the ball rolling on it at Tuesday’s initial meeting.

    Minister Coveney said last week: “We will do what we did with the racing industry where we asked Indecon to look at the racing industry and make recommendations; we’ll do the same with the sport horse sector. That’s the way it should be, every sector has to be opened to being reviewed, people should not feel threatened by it, it’s not a criticism, it is just good governance and that’s the way they should see it.”

    He also announced a Budget increase in funding of €50,000 for Horse Sport Ireland, an extra 3% to last year’s funding of €1.87 million. Another €2.6 million was announced for the Animal Welfare Control of Horses Act and an extra €200,000 for worthy capital supports for projects nationwide.