Mr. Michael Sheahan:

We do not know exactly, but we do know it is very high. In the thoroughbred sector it is 100%. There is no question about that. With regard to the non-thoroughbred sector, I will give an example. We started going to the Ballinasloe horse fair. Everybody knows that the Ballinasloe fair is the biggest of its kind in Europe. We started going there about ten years ago when we first started making a move to improve traceability and identification. We set up a number of checkpoints with the co-operation of An Garda Síochána around the entrance and exit to the Ballinasloe fair. During the first year we did this, it is fair to say that the number of horses with passports and microchips was very low. We are talking about 10% to 15%. Obviously, these were not thoroughbreds. During that first year of checkpoints, we advised people that if they turned up the next year without a passport and microchip for the each horse, they would be turned away. The second year the compliance level was very high and the third year we had nearly 100% compliance. This was even among the horses belonging to the Traveller community who would frequent the fair at Ballinasloe, and including a lot of horses at the lower end of the market as well as the top-class sport horses.

Even at the Ballinasloe fair end of the market, the compliance levels are now light years ahead of where they were. We have come a long way, but there are still a few more pieces of the jigsaw to be put in place before we have the sort of traceability in the horse sector that exists in the cattle sector. There are plans in place for that. My colleagues on the equine identification side are working on having an equine census in place before the end of the year. This will be another bit of the jigsaw to improve the traceability. There is still a way to go. The sector is on a journey. It is clear that this committee is of the view that more should be done and perhaps it can give the issue of traceability a further push.