Denis Landy (Labour)
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I welcome both delegations. While there is much tidying up still to be done in the industry, I commend Horse Sport Ireland on the excellent work it has done so far.

Why has Ireland dipped in international show-jumping rankings over the past ten years? Horse Sport Ireland stated in its report that it was addressing this. What does this entail? In recent years, we have seen some fantastic under age talent emerge in show-jumping.

I am lucky to know some of them. We need to address how we can support young talented riders and to harness, no pun intended, their talent.

I am aware of the difficulties that our young rising talented riders face. Somebody riding a horse worth €100,000 may be competing against a rider on a horse worth €10,000. The person riding the €10,000 horse might be better than the other competitor but he or she does not have the same quality animal. Sometimes that talent is lost to the industry when he or she is frustrated by the effort to get to the top.

I acknowledge there are some bursaries but I would like to see more money being invested in bursaries and support for young talent.

I welcome the efforts that Horse Sport Ireland is making on registering horses. Will the witnesses provide more detailed information on DNA? Is it the aim of Horse Sport Ireland that the DNA of every horse will be traceable? When will that happen?

Chairman, are we putting questions to the Irish Bookmakers Association at this stage?