Vol. 429 No. 4
28 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Forestry if he will provide that blood typing will be made mandatory for all non-thorough-bred sport horse foals; his views on whether such a measure will help to improve demand for Irish sport horses; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The rules of the Irish Horse Register are at present under review and in this context the question of phasing in mandatory blood-typing is being considered. I recognise that measures to maintain and improve the integrity of the register could improve the demand for Irish sport horses. What needs to be determined is the scale of the benefits likely to be derived relative to the additional expense which mandatory blood-typing would impose on breeders.
