Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the organisations for their comprehensive and informative presentations which will prove very useful and constructive. The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association spoke about a lack of profitability in the industry and the reductions in the numbers of mares, breeders and everything else. Prize money has been reduced, but it is still substantially better than in England. It costs more to bring a horse to many of the tracks in England than the prize money on offer.

That is why there are so many selling races; they are mad to get rid of them. Mr. Iceton indicated that there had been a 40% reduction, but surely one of the problems is that many people are being priced out of ownership. Has he any comment on that? There has been a huge reduction in the number of both individual and syndicated owners. Too many people are grabbing from the pot, which is driving out the ordinary people who used to enjoy buying a horse. I am aware that the industry became greedy, not just on one level but at all levels, including the organisational levels, which I spoke about previously. People are priced out of the market.

In their budget submission the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association spoke about enhanced depreciation. Is this the equivalent of a tax incentive or subsidy? I would like Mr. Iceton to expand more on that. I know how things are written off over a period of time, but they are all a cost. Really, that is tax incentivisation. I am not surprised. Horse Racing Ireland does not give owners much money. What is new? I am sure the committee will have an opportunity to examine that in due course.

I visited the Irish Equine Centre in Kill, which has the highest standards. I am surprised that Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association is not getting a subvention from them and that nearly all the funding comes from the breeding industry through the foal levy. That is a surprise.

What percentage of non-thoroughbred horses are not being registered? This is extremely important in the context of the points raised about passport regulations. In his presentation, Dr. Andrew Kelly, the chief executive of the ISPCA, spoke about the change in the passport regulation in January. He is absolutely right. The first thing that a person who owns a racehorse has to do is to notify change of ownership, and even if one changes the trainer, one has to notify the authorities. It is amazing that something as important as this is not applied to non-thoroughbred horses.

Deputy Ó Cuív is right to refer to the aims. Everything is computer-generated, and records are there to underpin the traceability from yard to yard and street to street and from house to house. That is the way it should be. We should get to that very comprehensive traceability system that is in place for the bovine industry and it should be applicable to the equine industry at all steps. We have no compunction about making that a very strong recommendation. I am sure the Chairman will deal with that in due course. I would like to know what percentage of non-thoroughbred horses are not being registered. Is this phenomenon increasing? Obviously the disease issue is of great concern to the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association.

The witnesses also referred to the over-zealous implementation of veterinary medication rules set down by the EU but implemented by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. I am not surprised. Sometimes the Department cannot see the wood from the trees, even if is standing at the side of the forest. They have been over-zealous in terms of implementation at various points in time. Mention was made of various things. What type of product have breeders not been able to use, and are they readily available somewhere else? I think they should tell us, as it is very important that we know about those things. We will be dealing with the Department in due course and cross-examining its representatives on what they have to say about this.

I was a member of a local authority for almost two decades, and some things have not changed or altered in the 13-year period since I left. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine devolves responsibility and obligations to local authorities without a concomitant transfer of resources. It is as simple as that. Mr. McGrath is talking about something that costs €900, €1,000 or €1,100, and they get €375. One cannot continue to survive on that, especially at a time of declining resources at local authority level, and there is fierce competition for resources.

Mr. McGrath might be the right person to answer a particular question. There are service-level agreements and there is a rush for somebody to indicate that he or she is doing a great job, or instead, the veterinary officers may be transferred or amalgamated. Am I correct?

I think I have a rough idea. There is a proposal to spread people across six or seven counties. As far as I am concerned, I want to ensure the veterinary officers are retained, and I know from personal experience that the veterinary officer in Westmeath, Mr. Sean Ó Laoide, and his colleagues play a very vital role. We should not mind the idea of rushing around and trying to signal a win in terms of putting people together. Those people, such as Michael King, the veterinary officer in Longford, whom I know, have done tremendous work. They have an array of roles that is not even understood sometimes. I think service-level agreements and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland may be involved in all this, but I want to set down a marker that I would not be happy to see people in headquarters, away from the places where they inspect. The veterinary officers do a lot of work with abattoirs and even small rural abattoirs. We are losing enough activity in rural areas without losing everything.

Veterinary officers play a role in the protection of a vulnerable public when the local authorities are dealing with horses. I certainly agree that the local authorities need proper resources to continue the work they are doing. I note the proposals for improvement, which are useful and which we appreciate.

I saw a reference to the success of the Irish Horse Welfare Trust jockey training programme on Sky television some years ago. Any cost-benefit analysis of the work of the Irish Horse Welfare Trust would show it in a very positive way. Long may it continue with that work. We will take cognisance of the benefits of the horse projects education and training programme in our recommendations.

Dr. Andrew Kelly from the ISPCA made a number of points in addition to the opening statement. I was interested when he spoke about having to deal with a racehorse in Mullingar. I know the ISPCA centre in Keenagh operates at the very top level and one could not praise highly enough the work they do and their raising the funds to do it. Does the ISPCA get grants or only an ex gratia payment to run the centres in Mallow and Keenagh? What level of grant aid is available from the Department to deal with abandoned and-or neglected animals and animals subjected to cruelty? The work of the ISPCA is not confined to equines as I know it does a tremendous amount of work with cats, dogs and various other animals in Keenagh.

Like my colleagues I was somewhat taken aback by the change in the regulations. I think, Chairman, that we should explore the reason for the change. If one has a passport, one has to know who is involved at every step of the process. We could examine and explore the Equidae (Transfer of Ownership) (No. 2) Regulations that have come into effect and the rationale for that change in the context of what has been brought very forcefully to our attention in today's presentations.

I thank all the witnesses for coming before the committee and giving us the benefit of their expertise. The presentations are food for thought.