Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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57. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine if he will provide an update on the horse project in Cork; and the funding provided for the control of horses in Cork in 2022. [25223/23]

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister provide an update on the horse project in Cork and the funding provided for the control of horses in Cork in 2022?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Both the Department and I are fully committed to supporting sustainable One Health, One Welfare initiatives in line with the programme for Government and Working Together for Animal Welfare, our animal welfare strategy for the period up to 2025. We continue to support a number of urban horse projects nationwide as a result of our approach. These projects foster community leadership on education and responsible ownership for young people from disadvantaged communities and backgrounds. Supports for the projects are typically provided by the local authorities, and funding provided by my Department is paid directly through the local authorities to support these projects.

Through Cork County Council, my Department has supported a Cork city horse project, which was a collaborative initiative involving Cork city and county councils and community statekholders, including the Traveller visibility group. We welcome further submissions through local authorities for assistance in Cork under our urban horse project scheme. In 2022, we provided combined funding of €4,150 to Cork city and county councils for the control of horses. To further encourage and develop projects nationwide, officials in my Department are planning a seminar dedicated to the promotion of urban horse projects.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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It is good to hear that a number of horse projects are being looked at nationally, but the problem is the horse project in Cork was talked about ten years ago. It has been in the pipeline and it seems to be stalled. Will the Minister and his Department look to push this forward? Cork city and county councils initially came on board and, to be fair, people such as Valerie O'Sullivan, who was on Cork City Council at the time, really tried to push this. However, we need a champion for this horse project and horse projects nationally.

I encourage the Minister's Department to engage with Cork city and county councils to get this delivered. We are ten years on. The Minister has outlined the positivity potential, both from an educational point of view and an animal welfare point of view. There have been incidences of horses and other animals being left in atrocious conditions.

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Gould is right in that it is an important issue and there are many challenges throughout the country. We all need to work to try to address this issue and provide support. The local authorities play an important role in that and the support, work and engagement with my Department is very important in that regard. We welcome ongoing engagement and further proposals. We continue to have a lot of work to do and progress to make to address the issue. I thank the Deputy for raising this issue and the project.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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The final part of my question was about funding provided for the Control of Horses Act in Cork in 2022. The same year saw an 80% cut in funding spent on the control of horses compared with 2017. Only €1,895 was spent in 2022 whereas €11,000 was spent in 2017. This can be seen on the ground, with horses that are not being cared for and some cases of unbelievable cruelty against these animals. My office is contacted by people who are crying out for the control of horses and enforcement of the Act and refer to graphic scenes of the conditions of these beautiful animals. We contact An Garda Síochána and the pound. To be fair to An Garda Síochána, it is doing its best, but we need a much stronger enforcement of the Act.

What is the Minister doing to ensure local authorities, An Garda Síochána and everyone else are part of this? Horses, beautiful animals, are to be left in fields with the summer coming. We have seen times when horses died because of mistreatment or not being fed, watered or looked after. Will the Minister look at that and ensure the enforcement is delivered?

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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There is a role for everyone. Leadership is required from my Department in this regard, which we are determined to provide and have been providing. The animal welfare division in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has commenced communications with local authorities with a view to arranging a conference to encourage greater participation in urban horse projects nationwide.

The seminar is expected to be attended by local authorities and representatives from existing projects, non-governmental organisations and community stakeholders to gather together people who are working in the area to assess where we are at and to ensure we encourage greater participation in those urban horse projects which can make such a difference.

I thank the Deputy for raising the particular one in Cork today. I will continue to look to make progress on the matter.