Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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783. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the amount of funding provided to animal welfare charities regarding equine welfare ,by year from 2015 to date; the purpose of the funding, for example, control of horses, training course or otherwise, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48137/21]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Animal welfare is high on the agenda of my Department and considerable resources and funding are provided to address the issue. In December 2020, I announced the provision of record funding of €3.2 million to 101 animal welfare organisations throughout the country, many of which work with equines. These payments are a valuable way to support these charitable organisations in their valuable work.

The Programme for Government includes an undertaking to make additional funding available to animal welfare charities over the coming years, to which I am fully committed.

Additionally, the Control of Horses Act 1996 provides for the control of horses, and to make provision for the licensing of horses in urban and other areas where horses cause a danger or nuisance to people or property. Operation and enforcement of the Act is a matter for each Local Authority.

Section 15 of the Act provides that the Minister for Agriculture may make grants towards the expenses of a local authority incurred under the Act.

My Department provides financial assistance to the authorities for implementation of the Act and for the development of Urban Horse Projects, including provisions of new structures and education projects, with the aim of encouraging young people in the care and welfare of horses.

These payments are addressed in the Deputy's Parliamentary Question 48136/21.

The table below outlines payments to welfare charities, some of which deal exclusively with equines, whilst a further number deal with the welfare of more than one species including equines. It is not possible to quantify the use of the funds per species in the latter case. Both categories are included in the figure for each year in question.