Mr. Derek Iceton:

My name is Derek Iceton. I am chairman of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association, an association which looks after the interests of thoroughbred breeders both nationally and internationally.

The thoroughbred breeding industry is unique in that worldwide we are self-regulating and set structures so that we can trade and race with each other. On behalf of breeders, the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association will represent Irish breeders to make sure that they are not compromised in this export-driven business. This year every country that breeds thoroughbreds will come to Ireland in September where we will collectively agree on principles for equine genome testing for binding international agreements.

Such undertakings cannot be taken on by Horse Racing Ireland or the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.

We are very active on behalf of breeders nationally and I will mention a few things we have achieved recently. We have led the discussions on the implementation of the new EU VAT rules on behalf of the breeding and racing industry, at great expense to our association. We also led the alliance for racing, where owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys, stable staff and so on came together to lobby the Government. We continue to have seminars and meetings to keep breeders fully up to date on issues and to help them run their enterprises profitably. We run winter workshops for veterinarians and breeders to ensure the latest best practice is upheld. These workshops are responsive to current issues as well as for informing about new practices. We represent our members on the boards of Horse Racing Ireland, Weatherbys Ireland, Goods, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, veterinary liaison committees, European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders' Associations and so on. We continually strive to improve the fortunes of the National Hunt breeding sector, and the recent introduction of a proper series of races for National Hunt fillies has been very successful. The youth section of our association, the YITBA, runs apprenticeships, career advice and workshops. It is the fastest growing part of our association.

The Irish thoroughbred industry is a world leader. Indeed the description of "bred in Ireland" has the same cache as "made in Germany" for manufactured goods. It reminds me of a speech made by the former President Mary McAleese when she said no matter where she went in the world there were the three M's - monks, music and mares. The Irish thoroughbred industry employs 17,000 people with an incredible percentage of added Irish value. Not only are our horses renowned, so are our horsemen and horsewomen. We have been very fortunate that the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has always been open to us. I look forward to future co-operation.

There are issues of concern. There is a significant lack of profitability in the industry. The number of breeders and the number of mares are down 40% on the figures of some years ago. The market has not increased enough to justify a great expansion in foal numbers, but the loss of so many breeders is an issue, as is the increasing age profile of the national brood mare band. There is just not enough investment in young breeding stock. Those who have seen the production of thoroughbred foals as another source of farm income are walking away, as are their sons and daughters, simply because the cost of replacement breeding stock is hard to justify at the lower end of the market. While the world industry screams for first class quality, the returns to the average commercial breeder often make it a business that is difficult to justify. For the smaller breeder to replenish breeding stock, they have to compete actively on a world price basis to improve their standard.

The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association, in its budget submission, has asked for an enhanced depreciation scheme to maintain profits being ploughed back into the stud, while at the same time seeking only to improve the quality in our main markets. We have significant issues with both German and Italian racing, both of which are in steep decline. Previously, Italy had been a most significant customer not only for the Irish bloodstock but also as great users of Irish stallions and livery, but now that business is now down to a trickle. British racing, while it is a world leader, offers prize money that is far too low and this in turn leads to a poor return for breeders. France is the best-funded racing nation in Europe through its very lucrative incentives to French owners and breeders. That makes it very difficult for us to trade in France. When one trades in France, it will be at a significant discount. I will elaborate on this when I come to deal with the National Hunt. There are some great opportunities. The Middle East, Asia and North America are great markets and the returns are significant. However in the Middle Eastern and Asia markets we are head to head against the Australian bloodstock and racing industry which is incredibly well-resourced.

Health issues are paramount and we need to demonstrate the health status of our industry worldwide. To that end, the industry has set up the Irish Equine Centre based in Kill. This is a world centre of excellence in equine veterinary diagnostics. It provides an exceptional horse-based focus in maintaining our health status and it is proactive in dealing with any challenges. The breeding industry itself provides €800,000 per annum from the foal levy to fund this centre. This is many times what the racing industry donates directly, but to me the issue is that the non-thoroughbred industry gets away scot free. If the State were to provide a similar service, it would cost many timers its current funding. I ask the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to make a promise of significant ongoing funding to the Irish Equine Centre.

With regard to the non-thoroughbred industry, we have very serious concerns about the low percentage of horses being registered. My chief worry is that disease does not discriminate between thoroughbred and non-thoroughbred horses, and an outbreak of disease in the country would be a significant issue for us and our export market. Furthermore, although I realise we live in a single market, I encourage the Department to have more spot checks on horses being imported through our ports. We have an issue with some overly zealous implementation of veterinary medication rules set down by the EU but implemented by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. In each of the last two seasons, manufacturers have run out of stocks but similar products freely available in Europe for horses have not been allowed to be imported to Ireland.

With regard to the National Hunt breeding industry, we are again under serious competitive pressure from the French. That country has a myriad of incentives such as breeder bonuses, and it channels a significant amount of money back to breeders. We are in open competition with them and getting squeezed. I instance the derby sale in Fairyhouse, where the number of French animals has risen exponentially over the past number of years.

We have a wonderful industry and we are world leaders in the area, but there are challenges that need to be addressed now. The breeding industry is basically self-funded, with little input from Horse Racing Ireland, except in the contribution to Irish thoroughbred marketing, which we co-fund with the body. The Irish Thoroughbred Breeders Association is a 32-county body democratically elected among its members and responsive to the needs of Irish breeders.