Mr. Denis Duggan:

Given we look after the Olympic teams and the international teams, that is an opportunity for direct financial sponsorship into the organisation to support high performance. Regrettably, we have not been able to attract any major international brands, for whatever reason, which is something we are constantly exploring, but we have a number of very valuable domestic sponsors and we are always looking for more. Some of those sponsorships relate to product in kind, but others are financial. As the Senator will appreciate, some of them are commercially sensitive at one level.

In terms of what we administer to the industry, we provide what some people refer to as sponsorship, although in a lot of cases it is grant administration through things such as the national breeding services. Senator Lombard asked earlier about rural shows. Some of those shows will call that sponsorship but, in fact, it is a grant we administer on behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine into those shows. In regard to the specific reference the Senator highlighted, we gave €55,000 in direct sponsorship in 2021 to Showjumping Ireland for its premier series.