NO other sector under the remit of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, received a 25% budget increase akin to that allocated to Horse Sport Ireland.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed TD, this week invited anyone to go through the Department’s budget and find a similar increase allocated to any group or organisation.

In a wide-ranging interview with The Irish Field, Minister Creed confirmed his and his Department’s commitment to the vibrant Irish Sport Horse industry, acknowledging its €816m contribution to the Irish economy and support of over 14,000 full-time jobs nationwide.

Commenting on his budget increase of €500,000 to Horse Sport Ireland, Minister Creed said: “In what was a particularly difficult budgetary year, I would invite anyone to go through, line by line, the Department’s budget and to find another sub-head that had an increase of 25%. No other sector or organisation got a 25% increase. It’s reflective of this Department’s commitment.”

It brings to €2.5m the budget allocated to HSI for 2018 and Minister Creed also set out a clear path by which further substantial industry funding could be unlocked in future.

“This is quite an extraordinary, broadly-based industry. It’s really important in the rural context. With 14,200 breeders and over 14,000 full-time jobs, it’s an industry that shows a remarkable resilence. We have just come through an economic crash the like of which we have never seen before, but still in that period, the industry grew from a value of €700m in 2012 to over €800m now. That’s to be celebrated. It’s a great story and it’s one that I think can be built on,” said Minister Creed.

Paying tribute to the Irish senior and pony show jumping teams who captured gold and silver medals this year, Minister Creed described the collective achievement of those winning teams as “smashing” and “incredible”.

“There’s an extent to which there is almost equine DNA in our being in Ireland, from racing, to sport horse and even to urban horse projects, it encompasses all classes and creeds and I’m no different to anyone else in that regard.”

Paying tribute to the small farmer/breeders who make up the bulk of the sport horse breeding sector, Minister Creed said: “The profile is the small breeder who is milking a herd of cows or running dry stock but also has an almost fanatical commitment to his horses. Some might call it a hobby but that commitment underpins the edifice on which our international competitors are out there.”

Commenting on the number of jobs supported by the Irish sport horse industry, Minister Creed said: “High tech jobs don’t land everywhere. This is an industry that is rooted in the rural communities. It is not as easy to up and relocate but that said, we still need to be very careful in terms of public policy how we support it.

NEXT STEP

“If you look back, Horse Sport Ireland is about a decade in existence now. If you take the journey, you had the Dowling Report, you had the establishment of HSI. To bring all those various strands together was an important first step. The next step is to reflect on the experience we have had over 10 years. We had the Reaching New Heights Report and the recommendation to look at the corporate governance structures. We appointed Indecon and asked them to do a job of work there. We have that report.

“It makes a lot of sense. I met with HSI and I said to them, “Look, we need to move on now. We cannot remain static. We need to move on in terms of corporate governance structures. I made the point that money would follow the Report. I appreciated there are costs associated with implementing the report and that’s where we are at now, with a 25% increase in funding. There are some elements of that which are more germaine to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and I’m sure they have indicated they will put additional funding for it as well. That’s an important next step now. We would hope there will be progress on that.

“The current board is quite large, nearly 30 people on the board. The next step is to follow the Indecon recommendations of a more focused, nine-member board and then you have the sub-boards. That’s the next step. They won’t be achieved easily.

“I don’t underestimate the challenge. But from the meeting I had with the Board, there is reason for optimism, they are up for the journey,” Minister Creed told The Irish Field.

UCD REPORT

Commenting on the newly launched UCD Report (see A48), Minister Creed said: “What’s abundantly clear from it is the economic value, the resilience of the industry and the commitment of the industry to excellence. The yardsticks by which that is measured – international competition, export sales, numbers employed – are all positively reflected in the report.

“All of the indices are positive, what we need to make sure now is that we have the appropriate structures in place to further the potential of the industry,” Minister Creed concluded.