Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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152. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of horse passports issued annually, by passport issuing organisation; and by year since 2008, in tabular form. [34655/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The number of equine passports issued annually is set out in the table below. A breakdown by passport issuing organisation (PIO) cannot be provided as requested as this information is deemed to be commercially sensitive as disclosure could potentially undermine fair market competition.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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153. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the average waiting time for passport issuance by Horse Sport Ireland, by county, by year for the past 10 years, in tabular form. [34656/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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Horse Sport Ireland (HSI) is one of seven approved equine passport issuing organisations in Ireland. The average waiting time for passport issuance is an operational matter and requests in relation to metrics are more appropriately directed to HSI itself.

Notwithstanding this, my Department is in regular contact with HSI, and has been informed by HSI that it has introduced a number of measures to assist in reducing the turnaround time, and that continuous improvements are being made.

While the issuance of passports is a matter for each passport issuing organisation, including HSI, I am aware of the impacts that delays can cause, and I have instructed my officials to continue to work closely with HSI to ensure that commitments for the 2025 season are delivered upon.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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154. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the number of applications for horse passports currently outstanding, by passport issuing organisations, to provide a breakdown, by county, in tabular form. [34657/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The information requested is not readily available and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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155. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to confirm the number of horse passports issued over the past 10 years that have included a "Do Not Enter Food Chain" stamp, by reason, county and year. [34658/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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The information requested is not readily available and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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156. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the annual number of complaints received regarding horse passport delays, errors or irregularities, by county, and by year since 2010. [34659/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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My Department estimates that approximately 100 complaints/queries were made, either directly to the Minister’s office or to officials, concerning matters relating to studbooks/passport issuing organisations in 2023 and 2024. My Department has a record of approximately 25 complaints so far in 2025. Please note that these figures are approximate, as correspondence can be submitted in a number of ways, and a register centralising and categorising all correspondence received is not maintained. There is no data available prior to 2023.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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157. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine to confirm whether a centralised national microchip and passport database for equines exists; and if not, whether there are plans to establish one. [34660/25]

Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael)
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A central equine database was established in 2013 and contains the records of all equines registered in Ireland as reported by the seven authorised Passport Issuing Organisations (PIOs). In addition, EU Regulation 2016/429, the Animal Health Law, makes it obligatory for Member States to establish and maintain a computer database containing certain information regarding equines.

For each animal the database records a number of key fields, including:

• their unique code (passport number)
• the method of identification linking the animal concerned with the identification document referred to in point
• date of birth
• country of birth
• exit date
• whether a replacement or duplicate passport was issued
• whether the animal is fit for human consumption.