Reorganise and revitalise horse sector, TDs and Senators urge

The horse sector - currently worth almost €2 billion a year to the economy - needs to be reorganised with new tax incentives for smaller breeders.

This is according to TDs and Senators, who on Wednesday called on the Government to reorganise the industry and revitalise what they said was Ireland’s international reputation for producing and handling quality sport and thoroughbred horses.

The thoroughbred is a distinctive breed of horse best known for its use in horse racing, while the sport horse can be defined as a riding horse of any breed or combination of breeds.

A third type of horse, a standardbred, is mostly used in harness racing.

Launching a new report on the Irish horse industry, the politicians - members of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture – said the value of the thoroughbred industry was about €1.1 billion a year while the sport horse business was worth a further €700 million.

List of recommendations

Committee chairman Andrew Doyle said the members had come up with 44 recommendations including:

* A new national plan be drawn up for development of the equine industry

* Responsibility for the industry to be transferred from a range of government Departments including Sport and Environment, to a new section within the Department of Agriculture

* All funding for Horse Racing Ireland, Horse Sport Ireland and the Irish Greyhound Bord be channelled through the Department of Agriculture

*Tax incentive measures should be used to incentivise small thoroughbred breeders

* The practice of inspections should continue to ensure the quality of stallions involved in production of sport horses, draught horses and the Connemara Pony.

Labour intensive

Kildare south TD Martin Heydon said the industry was crucially labour intensive and attracted about €400 million a year in foreign direct investment in stud farms.

“The €50 million to €60 million the government puts into horses and greyhounds is a really smart investment,” he said.

Éamon Ó Cuív TD said the industry had “very little imports” and to expand it by 10 per cent could have a “very significant impact”, particularly on employment.

“We believe that should these recommendations be implemented we can realise even greater potential of what is already a world-class indigenous industry,” said Mr Doyle.

The full report is available at oireachtas.ie