Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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168. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the estimated cost of establishing a national equine database to record microchipped equine. [37958/19]

Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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The establishment of a central equine database became a requirement across the EU with the introduction of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/262 on 1st January 2016. However, my Department established a central equine database well before the required date, in May 2013.  

Equine passports are issued in Ireland by a number of approved Passport Issuing Organisations (PIOs). My Department's central equine database is populated by these organisations with relevant equine registration data dating back to 1st January 1990.

The minimum information required to be recorded on the central equine database is set out at Article 38 of Regulation 262/2015.

Given that my Department established a central equine database in 2013 that operates in accordance with EU and national legislation and records the microchip numbers of all equines required to be implanted with same, the database referred to by the Deputy already exists and there are no further costs involved.