HORSE Sport Ireland have been allocated €3 million in funding from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Budget 2019, an increase of €600,000 on 2018.

The figure was announced by Minister Michael Creed TD at his Budget 2019 press briefing at Government Buildings in Dublin this morning (Wednesday).

The extra allocation comes off the back of Horse Sport Ireland working to implement the recommendations of the Indecon Report.

Speaking to The Irish Field, Minister Creed said: “Horse Sport Ireland’s budget is going up to €3 million, from €2.4 million, so there is a significant increase in the budget there.

“Indecon and governance and [the] new board are in place and we recently completed the appointments to that board, so I am satisfied now that we have in place a board that is capable of driving this sector, and [that are] focused on addressing the issues that were identified in the Indecon report.

“The increased funding I think reflects our commitment that funding would follow the Indecon implementations,” the Minister added.

Horse Sport Ireland is also funded by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, with Sport Ireland likely to announce their National Governing Body (NGO) funding breakdown at a later stage.

Minister Creed confirmed an extra €4 million for the Horse and Greyhound Fund (80/20 split), increasing it from €80 million to €84 million. Horse Racing Ireland were allocated an extra €3.2 million, bringing their total to €67.2 million, while the greyhound industry got an extra €800,000, totalling €16.8 million.

FULL REACTION TO BUDGET 2019 IN SATURDAY’S THE IRISH FIELD