Mr. Robert Draper:

I thank the Cathaoirleach and committee members for this opportunity. The Irish Draught Horse Breeders Association, IDHBA, is the largest representative organisation of Irish draught owners, breeders and supporters on the island of Ireland, with members nationwide and affiliate groups internationally in the United Kingdom, Canada, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Aligning with the current increase in the popularity of the breed, the association has expanded to improve representation and raise the profile of the breed. Irish draughts are now competing across all equine disciplines and are competitive to a level that satisfies the needs of a major proportion of the total marketplace. The flexibility of the breed to perform in show classes, eventing, dressage, cross-country, show jumping, endurance riding, riding clubs, return to riding and more has driven the breeds recent growth in popularity.

The Irish draught is a foundation breed of the Irish sport horse and is currently classified as a rare breed. The breed has evolved incredibly through the centuries to meet current market needs and this, coupled with the fantastic temperament and soundness that the breed is known and loved for, has resulted in a fantastic product and is one of our few truly Irish horse breeds left.

The IDHBA has nominated a member to the new HSI structure. It has found the level of engagement and the process deficient due to the fact that it does not facilitate a structured, proportional, fair and transparent representation of the industry. The idea of the forum should be to create a basis of understanding the needs of the sector and to allow it to formulate strategy, policies and initiatives to support and develop the entire sector for the betterment of all.

Immediate concerns include the setting of policy and what industry and sector qualifications, references or experience those involved actually hold. Our concerns and basic requirements include: structured, proportional, fair and transparent representation within the equine industry; clear and transparent funding and financial accountability; improved transactional performance and relationships; consultation and involvement in strategy and strategic direction for the Irish draught breed; accurate, compliant and efficient maintenance and management of the Irish draught stud book against the tender awarded; efficient, compliant and transparent maintenance and management of the passport system; and improved equine traceability and efficient access to breed and industry data.

I thank the committee for its attention and I look forward to discussing in further detail the challenges facing the sector and the possible ways to approach them.