Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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104. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 262 of 27 January 2015 for an updated version of the information, given the time lag involved since the question was originally put down; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39854/15]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Connemara Pony Breeders Society is currently approved by my Department  in accordance with EU rules and the relevant domestic legislation, namely the European Communities (Equine) Regulations 2011 (as amended). The Society holds an approval which is valid up to 28^thNovember 2016.

The Connemara Pony Breeders Society is in receipt of funding from my Department under the Equine Infrastructures Grant Scheme for a range of projects, including breed improvement, conservation and promotion.

Last year I launched an initiative by Horse Sport Ireland, Teagasc, the Royal Dublin Society to devise a ten-year strategy for the sport horse industry and in February 2015, I launched their report entitled “Reaching New Heights: Report of Irish Sport Horse Industry Strategy Committee".

The report contains a wide range of recommendations for the development of the sport horse industry, including the Connemara Pony breed, over the next ten years, including improving quality through more focussed breeding, developing the education and training structures for the transfer of knowledge to breeders, improving the marketing and sales capacity across the industry, increasing participation in the sector, progressing the health and welfare of horses and deepening the institutional capacity to deliver on the goals of the strategy.

The Strategy Report provides a roadmap to inject greater confidence and professionalism into the industry and will be used as a vehicle to promote and inform policy with particular emphasis on job creation and sustainable enterprise development and the facilitation of export led growth. The Connemara Pony Breeders Society has a representative on the Strategic Plan Implementation Group.

In addition to the annual grant and the equine infrastructure grants that my Department provides to Horse Sport Ireland, I allocated an additional sum of €600,000 to HSI for 2015 to facilitate their plans to enhance marketing, to increase prize-money across a range of competitions and to stimulate some innovative events. I also recently launched the Knowledge Transfer measure under the Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 and understand a number of Connemara pony breeders have indicated their intention to become involved.