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

Mr. Egan wants to come in but I have limited time left. The committee would agree that sport horse production is the bedrock of agriculture in Ireland. We have a huge opportunity to reposition it as part of the changing face of Irish agriculture. If we put in proper funding and proper incentives for farmers, we can get back to the halcyon days of the Irish draught horse, before the foreign-bred horses came in.

The witnesses have given us a lot of food for thought today. I will not speak for other members but, for me, it is about trying to crystallise the key issues. Arising from today's deliberations, we will go into private session to discuss them. We need to write to the Minister with a couple of key requests, one of which should be for an immediate pause on any efforts to reconstitute the board of Sport Horse Ireland. I will suggest in our private meeting that we recommend that the four council nominees be appointed as an interim solution. Secondary to that, I will propose to the committee that we ask the Minister to initiate an external strategic review of the sport horse sector in Ireland, examining governance and, critically, HR within the sector, as well as funding, value for money and the growth potential for the sector. We all agree the potential is huge and there is a great opportunity in that regard. Specifically, we need to address the high-performance sector as to whether it is filtering down to dressage and para equestrian. There is a huge opportunity for growth in both those sectors. Ultimately, a review must set out provision for a very inclusive, responsive and focused industry body that best represents the interests of every constituent part. The witnesses have put their case eloquently to us today. At a time we are seeing unprecedented success on the world stage, it would be remiss of this committee not to make that intervention with the Minister. I certainly will be following it up forcibly with my colleagues. I expect we will have unanimity in our private session and we will then write directly to the Minister with those two key requests.