Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)

I appreciate that but during the year there are four Question Times for defence matters and it is important the Minister attends. It is not fair to send a Minister of State for what may concern serious Government policy decisions.

I welcome the Minister of State's reply. The funding available to the Army Equitation School to purchase or lease horses is €300,000 and it can also acquire horses through patronage. I am sure the Minister of State would agree that this figure is entirely insufficient. He outlined the successes of the equitation school but I would go further and say all our great show jumping victories in the past have involved the Army Equitation School and its great riders. If it was resourced properly and allocated a bigger budget it could buy more and better horses. Are there any plans to increase the budget for the purchase or lease of horses? I remind the Minister of State that we are the only country in the world to have an Army Equitation School that competes at such a high level throughout the world. For that reason the school is very precious and very special. Its situation, adjacent to the Phoenix Park, would present additional opportunities if it had more and better-bred horses.

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