Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 20 July 2021

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Alleged Issues in the Horse Racing Industry: Discussion (Resumed)

Photo of Joe FlahertyJoe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will not take up too much time because my colleagues wish to comment as well, but I am thankful to be allowed to contribute now. I thank the officials from the Department for coming in. The Chair has touched on some of the issues already and the programme last night was harrowing to watch. However, not every horse going through that abattoir was a racehorse. Many of them were ponies and probably sport horses originating in Ireland and the UK. We have an issue regarding the traceability of horses in this country and the responsibility in this regard is spread across several regulatory bodies, including the HRI, Weatherbys and Horse Sport Ireland, HSI.

Mr. Finnian McLoughlin, a constituent of mine, contacted the Department last November and highlighted that 18 horses on the sport horse register were still registered in his name. Of those 18 horses, two were dead, two had been exported and were dead, another two had been exported, nine were sold, one he had never owned and two more had been sold and exported. When Mr. McLoughlin contacted Horse Sport Ireland, he was informed that it was the responsibility of the new owners to complete the transfer of ownership forms and not his. Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine permits were issued for at least two of these horses and Mr. McLoughlin understood that at least two more of those horses were disposed of in one of the Department-approved abattoirs mentioned earlier. Mr. McLoughlin also understood that four more horses had been exported to the UK. In that instance, however, the new owners are not required to complete a change of ownership form with Horse Sport Ireland.

Therefore, we can see that there is a major grey area regarding the ownership of horses in Ireland and we have a responsibility in this regard. We are a horse-loving nation and we take great pride in and highly value our reputation as an equine nation. The onus in this regard must be on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to get to grips with this issue of horse ownership. As the Chair rightly said, and as my colleague, Deputy Fitzmaurice, stated at our last meeting, we know exactly where a calf has been from the moment it is born until the day it ends up on a plate. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for horses originating in Ireland. This is a major grey area. I appreciate that the witnesses are not going to be able to wholly address this aspect with us here today, but we must get information on horse ownership, traceability of horses, where and how horses are sold and where they are exported to collated in one central database. In this modern age, it is inconceivable that we have not been able to hack this. I appreciate that other members have questions as well, but I would like the witnesses to address this issue before the close of this meeting and to state what the Department is going to do in this regard. I refer to going away, examining this issue and then trying to devise one central source of information on the ownership of horses and the tracking of horses post-sale.

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