Joe Flaherty (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the officials for coming in. The report looks great. There is plenty of colour. It looks brilliant. However, it is amazing that there was no mention of horse welfare in the Department's opening statement, given everything that has happened. On a cursory glance, it does not specifically mention horses or horse welfare, though it mentions animal welfare. Until the Chair mentioned the matter and gave us a segue into the topic, we might have gone through the whole meeting without discussing what must undoubtedly be the biggest issue for the Department. I am sure the officials saw last week's exchange or the transcripts of it. It is no secret that absolute accountability for what happened rests with the Department of agriculture. There was a guarded response in the opening statement. It said what occurred happened in a building that was not a registered slaughter facility and as such it did not look at it or go near it. However, it is extraordinary that in four years, on the slaughter day, neither the veterinary official or the two other departmental officials at any stage decided they should look in that building or thought that something was going on in the building that was not quite right. Anyway, that is for another day and, as was said, an investigation is under way.

I hope I am not reading too much into the Department's comments, but I think it accepts that there is a major problem with horse identification. It is fair to say that is what the Department said. It is no secret and it did not take the horse welfare incident in Sallins to bring that to a head. Any week, in picking up The Irish Field or going to any show or sales, especially in the sports horse field, an absolute problem with it would be evident. It is estimated that up to 75% of foals for sale last year went to foals sales without their certification. I am hearing anecdotally from breeders that they have not received their foal kits yet this year. They should have been issued. The expectation was that they would go out in January. There was an update from Horse Sport Ireland, HSI, that they would go out at the end of June, but most breeders still have not received them at this stage.

Brexit adjustment funding was given to HSI for the delivery of a new passport service. Clearly that did not work very well in its first year. Did the Department review it to see if there was value for money, whether that money was being well spent or whether there were problems with the passport system in HSI?

My next question relates to a small studbook. It is the Irish cob small studbook maintained by Horse Sport Ireland. Its head office comprises one woman who lives in County Longford. It is a unique breed, probably influenced by the draft horse. It is coloured and there are a lot of hairy legs if you are from the town. It is a beautiful animal and it is unique to Ireland. The expectation was that we would get the passport situation sorted out and get it into ACRES 1. ACRES 2 has passed and the expectation is now that it might get into ACRES 3, if we have an ACRES 3. The officials probably will not be able to respond on the Irish cob today, but it is indicative of the problem we have with the passports for horses. We saw it in Sallins; they can be manipulated. Microchips can be taken out and a new microchip can be put in. This is no secret. It did not take the events in Sallins to tell the Department that there is a problem with horse identification. Perhaps the Department will decide to take the responsibility away from HSI and that the Department will do the identification.

Will the witnesses tease out and address whether the Brexit adjustment funding was money well spent? How much was given to Horse Sport Ireland? Did the Department review the operation in the first year and did it identify any problems? Has it told Horse Sport Ireland that it is unhappy? That is the kernel of the question.

Following on from Deputy Fitzmaurice on the forestry issue, it is no secret that we are broken down and weathered down. Whatever hair we had coming into government, we have lost it over forestry and it is not getting any better.